Out of Focus

From rusty politics and failed success stories to the stardom of cinema, there has always been controversy. A juicy piece of conflict that feeds adrenaline into newspapers, news channels and fleeting bus stop conversations and pumps life into our much mundane routines.

So where does that leave us? In the midst of a terrorist lashing out against hundreds and writing a heroic manifesto to supplement it or caught in between the political humdrum of politicians publically humiliating one another to get to the throne?

 In times like these, where the death toll from terrorist attacks and bombings are more than that of Mother Nature what can we really do? Can we really stop the silent war building up and escalating higher as we read the next word?

Well for now, we delude ourselves into believing that there’s not much we can do, and like everyone around us- sip on our morning coffee and focus on the controversial Birkin that we can’t have. 

Where's the safe in safety as the terror in terrorizing is growing three fold?

As the commercial capital of India, Bombay moved from the longest ever in history, popularly called  26/11 to reassuring promises of the government and an unbreakable spirit that refused to give in to trepidation, the only advice it received was to move on yet again.

Sure we will move on to the Friday with a new blockbuster movie, we will move on to the next big sale and we most definitely will move on to the same locations that were etched with the blood of innocent lives.

The pursuing question then remains..When will our security move on to the next level of efficient and enhanced? When will it sink in that a life lost, is a life never regained?

A dedication to all those terrorirized by the current state of affairs and a more specific dedication to the unfortunate who had to bear the brunt of it directly.

Lets just face it

As we evolve from desktop PCs to laptops, worn out shoes to shiny new ones, from one soap opera to another and from true love to friends with benefits, we’re only bound to think that everything around us is in a state of change.

Sure, change is sometimes reversed in a bizarre yet very real way where vintage clothes come back into fashion and put new age stylists to shame, but lets admit it- that’s rare and sometimes close to impossible.

Getting back to change that changes us, Facebook changed the face of social networking from rusty and scant to widespread and almost conquering. Unlike other changes that almost sequentially merge into the next change, Facebook stood its ground for a majestic 8 years(and still going) and conquered the world to the most popular tag line yet, ‘ It’s a Facebook world’.

From an ever-expanding reign to being headed by the youngest billionaire in the world, Facebook’s throne seemed rooted for decades to come. Sure, we all know that every tagged picture, every additional friend and saying too much has its side effects, but we continue to indulge in our daily dose of Facebook anyway!

But as change would have it- a new product hit the market, a subtler version of Facebook- not as much exposed information and no grimacing facebook sins. Google Plus. With riveting reviews and a rampage of sign ups, is the throne finally transferring? Is the almost decade long Facebook take over slowly declining?

Booked out!

The weather's making it more and more impossible to work.

Cuddling up with a great book, some coffee and my favorite music playing in the background.

Now reading Chowringhee. I have a fetish for Indian authors. :)(great book suggestions always welcome)

How are you spending your rainy days?

Dude, it's not my problem!

Let me sum up some of our current affairs to you and present you with the irony of the idiots in our world today.

We finally thought we were making progress with our ideology when New York passed a law to legalize gay marriages- to the east of New York, in India; the Union Health Minister refers to ‘gay sex as an unnatural disease.’ When we were finally on the brink of embracing a world that is open to individual choices and commitments, 1.2 billion people were reading headlines that made this progress null and void.

Speaking of headlines, read of the Royal wedding in Monaco? I’m sure all the gaga and splurging made you go like ‘woah.’ Now to come to the irony of it- the total cost of the wedding and a few other extravagance stories could buy out Greece! To add to this fund is the $11B found underneath a temple in India (in terms of cash and assets). Moreover, India is still a developing nation, and as recently discovered home to slavery and bondage of over 500 odd people; and it is funny to know that where buying of people still seems a profession- there are billions, ofcourse belonging to religion itself.

Amidst all of this let’s not forget a recuperating Japan whose reconstruction manager has, ‘quit’ the ‘job’.

Delving into a more global problem- The world today is fighting terrorism and every day we read horrifying stories of terror attacks and bomb blasts, we are spending crores of rupees on a terrorist , caught red handed during the 26/11 attacks in Bombay. Keeping with crime and terrorism of a certain kind, rape in Singapore deserves the capital punishment but in several other places it does not?

How is it possible that these differences exist? Sure we cannot live in an idealistic world and although we’ve learnt about interdependence all our life, when will it take over the global scenario? When will we embrace the truth of the ‘me’ attitude we have today and instead of looking to profits and numbers, look to lives and conditions? So let’s not play the blame game. We’re all idiots. Idiots with maybe just a lesser say.

So, tell me you didn't smile

Truth is,

When you smile- it scares people. It also makes people wonder. It makes you look pretty no matter how crooked you think your teeth are.

& the biggest truth is that as you smile, sometimes even when you don't want to- it makes you feel happy and warm and in most cases is the most contagious part of you.

So whether you think you look retarded, out of place, feel like you have issues that make you want to cry- think of something that has made your stomach ache with laughter before; an inside joke, a clutz, an incident that is so ridiculous you have no idea how you survived it & just smile :)

PS- I am not advocating any or all dentists.

Funny when you come across an essay you wrote for a college application :)

The Good Life

I possess an “ I love Mumbai” T- shirt in 17 different colors. Well, almost 17.

Every little bit of me reeks, (considering the sweat and pollution), literally reeks of Mumbai, so much so that when I enter a clean environment, I begin to choke and the clean air cuts sharp into my lungs and pierces my inner thoughts until I scream, “ I need pollution”.  Well that’s what the city does to you- you learn to love it through all its flaws. Bustling with constant activity, the fast paced Bombay life engenders an amalgamation of people to learn, to laugh and to live with each other. The city is constantly buzzing with energy, there’s so much to do that there’s no time to stop and think, to wait and react or to placate and console. When you’re heart broken, this busy city acts like your very own tub of ice cream, healing wounds with the never ending second class train rides, roadside pani-puri, haggling street vendors, 5 Rupee coffee in the pouring rain, empty wallets and a constant chase for what we Mumbaikars like to call “ the good life.”

My city has taught me to take things, with a pinch of salt, and to make peace with the fact that people (including myself) mess up a lot. Once, my sister and I were returning from our swim, when we saw a giant CRV parked bang in the midst of an anyway cramped Bandra lane. As my sister drove past this “king” she said in Hindi, “Do you think this is your father's road?” A degree higher than prompt this man replies, “ No it’s my mother’s”. The animosity just melted and my sister and I burst into fits of laughter. There’s just never enough time to linger over anything. We adapt to what’s going on, compromise a little and carry on.

Bustling Bombay has exposed me to a wide ocean of diverse people, culturally and emotionally diverse people. From learning how to eat at roadside stalls because of pocket money issues to not snapping back at the grumpy ticket collector, Bombay has made me malleable to any situation, gregarious and easily adaptable to all kinds of people.

I’ve learnt to fuse with any sort of situation- whether it is making a friend while waiting in a queue or dealing with a portly man taking up three quarters of the bus seat. When you’re amidst a throng of such magnitude you tend to feel lost at times. But what matters is that, amidst the crowd, Bombay has molded me into a person who can adapt, and at the same time stand out. It has enabled me to mix around with almost everyone, but at the same time retain my individuality at all times, and has given me the discretion to know when to take a step out and lead from the front. Yes, I am part of the crowd that makes Bombay what it is. Part of a crowd of people, who make mistakes, don’t know what to say or do at times, but it’s only fun that way, fun to learn how to deal with things and move on in life with a pinch of salt. 

The beast of our time.

Flipping through a newspaper or staying tuned to one too many news channels always makes me wonder about stories unreported, lives lost and injustice done. As we move through this age boasting of every new gadget to hit the market, every new billionaire to hit the ever expanding Forbes list and the endless progress made in fashion, communication and other such thousand lines- how is it even possible that we have no thought and no time to gauge evils that we 'believed' to have conquered- slavery and bondage? 


The story of 500 slaves ruthlessly tortured in South India- that shocked the world and continues to stain our image of the idealistic world we live in today is just a nuance of everything else that we're oblivious to. What is to become of these people who had been 'bought' and are suddenly overcome with freedom they never knew? 


Speaking of freedom and justice undone the story of a 20 year old Bangladeshi girl 'sold' on two different occasions (the second time being in India) makes all of our trophies look even more pale and all of the progress look barbaric. What exists today as one of the most flourishing businesses in the world is an issue that needs the most concern and maximum media support to unveil the beasts; in whichever part of the world they are. Sex trafficking might exist anywhere- in the area you've grown up and stayed all your life, a street away from you and in almost any other place; teasing us as they parade their horrendous inflictions even in the light of day. 


As we sit in a world different from the world of these innocent girls and women, forced into trafficking and bondage we can only do our bit to keep an eye open, to pay more attention to what isn't reported but very much exists and levy this information to authorities without fear and the ideology that someone else will report it.


All of this because behind every such heart melting story, are thousand stories that go unreported and behind every new set of sex trafficking statistics are actual people dealing with this beast.