In that moment,
When the scalding passion burns your soul and you melt in his arms.
In that moment,
When all your senses are intertwined and you know that there is no one on par.
In that moment,
When you plan a family, build a house and make promises but are still in each other’s arms.
In that moment,
When you lie, cheat and deceive to get what you want.
That moment is over darling, reality beckons.
Tell him soon, before we both regret that moment.
Take a small empty room,
Filll it with people.
People who are strangers.
The ones who are unkind.
Put yourself in the middle.
Start speaking sense
and then wait for it to blow up.
You meet someone nice and friendly, you think they are normal but what do you know? Maybe they’re just hiding themselves behind those smiles. You think they are ‘cool’ and ‘chill’ and ‘trippy’ but what if it’s just a curtain. I’m not saying that they are faking it; I’m just saying that they are good at concealing things. But why conceal so much?
I’ll tell you why…
It’s because here in our country (India) we don’t share. We don’t share our emotions, our thoughts, our feelings. We have a feeling we just bury it up. Now you may wonder ‘why don’t we share?’
It’s because our society turns the ones who want to share into ‘laughing stocks’!
‘Oh, look at him! He’s such a girl.’ Or ‘Oh my God! She’s just trying to seek attention’.
This deep rooted insensitivity pretty much ruins our society.
Just because your friend laughs and cracks jokes doesn’t really mean they are happy. Make the effort to know more about a person, you might just end up saving their life.
One of my roommates left today.
Almost 10 months ago all of us were scared newbies. All of us studying different subjects and had very little in common. Originally, we were 6 people in a room and this one girl left due to certain issues that I would not like to write about (no, they don’t concern me). So the 5 of us lived together in perfect harmony.
A lot of people told me that you’d end up being best friends with your roommates. But that did not happen. My roommates aren’t my best friends. We wave when we see each other in college but we don’t hang out anywhere outside together. They’re sort of like my family, they’ve seen me in my worst condition and then they’ve seen me in my best. They’ve even seen the process.
We clicked pictures before she left and had a big celebratory watermelon. We played some music and recorded each other’s voice while singing
When she left today, our room felt a little empty and we just sat there, all three of us on her bed and missed her for a while then one of them suddenly called dibs on her bed. We then went back to our routine.
Four of us will leave soon as well. We’ll have new roommates who may or may not be as good as all of us. I’ll miss them, but life will go on.
I honestly don’t know how to express my emotions.
I clearly understand that this post does not do justice to their awesomeness.
Hello everybody!
After so many posts, somebody told me that it is required for a blogger to have an introductory post. Apparently it was quite obvious and all of my other blogger friends have one.
So basically I’m going to re-open my blog.
Welcome to my blog’s GRAND RE-OPENING!
Before we cut the ribbon, I need to give you a background story on why I’m actually having a re-opening and the changes involved.
I’m a First Year Mass Communication student studying in Bangalore. I’m a female (and proud). I’m an amateur blogger. I’d like to talk more about myself, I mean who wouldn’t? But you’ll find out more about me through each post (It’s true, I’m an interesting person). Anyway, this blog was initially part of my course’s curriculum and we could only blog about social issues. So if you notice all my previous blogs are all related to social issues. Then our exam happened, I was judged and given marks on the basis on my blog. The examiner had a lot to say but told me to continue writing, which I will.
The only alteration in this blog would be that it won’t be just about social issues it’ll be about a lot of things, the ones that matter and the ones that don’t. It’ll be really short or it’ll be really long or maybe even medium-sized. Whatever it’ll be, it’ll be from the heart.
OK. The speech is over. I believe in short speeches, it keeps the audience awake.
Let’s cut the ribbon, clap now!
Bye, see you soon.
Question: What’s that thing that everybody is discussing about?
Hint: Media is continuously talking about it and it involves politicians.
If guessed ‘Elections’, then congratulations!
It’s the flavour of the season. Everybody is talking about it. I bet everybody is asking you if you’re going to vote or for whom are you going to vote or brainwashing you into not voting as a sign of protest. Whatever they maybe saying, one thing is clear that these upcoming elections will decide the future for our country. Our country may escalate or may fall into the pit further. But one thing to remember is vote, always vote. It’s the way in which you can express your opinion and power.
If you just turned 18 and this is your first LS election where you can vote then congratulations again. You’ve finally got the biggest gift that our constitution can give you. But remember research and think before you vote. You may wonder why, but the answer is pretty obvious. You don’t want to be stuck with a politician who has bad history. So please become politically active, do your background checks on all your possible candidates and then make a balanced decision. It’s more than just going there and pressing a button and getting an ink mark on your finger.
But please, you must vote. Don’t get lazy, don’t think things like one vote doesn’t really matter or all the politicians are evil or what’s the point in voting? It’s not like things will change. Remember, our country is a developing nation so things take time here. But you need to be patient and help the country move forward. No, I’m not asking you to build tall skyscrapers or cure cancer. Just vote. Voice out your choice, let the country know what you want and what you can offer. Voting is a privilege.
These upcoming elections are crucial for our country. Don’t you want to be a part of the change that is to come?
They really emphasize on Feminism in a girls only college. In school, though I was aware of its meaning but it never really made sense to me. I never realised that small things like TV advertisements were also ‘showing us our place’ in the society.
College really opened my eyes, it made me think and reflect. I started believing in feminism and started worshipping it. I found likeminded people as well and we started discussing and debating but there were many who even after understanding it did not want to believe in it. They still believed that a women’s place is in the kitchen and that it was okay to be slapped by their boyfriends. Why? I didn’t really get it. So I decided to talk to these people.
Me: You know those washing powder advertisements…
Person: Yea. What about them?
Me: Well, doesn’t it make you wonder why men are usually not present in these ads and it’s just women mostly housewives scrubbing the collar of a shirt.
Person: That’s what housewives do.
Me: Not really, I mean I think about it even husbands can wash clothes, it’s just adding washing powder to water.
Person: See, if we’re talking about a housewife whose husband goes out and earns then I think it’s okay if she’s washing the clothes and the ads show this because that’s what most housewives do.
Me: OK. So what if the wife goes out to work and the man stays at home, so does it mean he has to wash clothes?
Person: It’s not necessary, but if he wants to wash clothes then who are we to stop. But a man should always work. It’s not right for men to sit at home and do household chores.
Me: But it’s okay for a woman?
Person: That’s how it has always been.
Me: So wouldn’t you want to work after marriage?
Person: I would, but if my husband stops me or earns well then I don’t see the point.
And I didn’t see the point in dragging the conversation any further. I wanted to point fingers and blame somebody, do I blame the society or do I blame her family? I didn’t know. One thing I’ve realised though, if a woman continues to think in such a patriarchal manner and continues to put her own self down, I can surely say that our progress towards achieving equality will become stagnant. If women themselves don’t believe that they aren’t equal to men then the struggle, like that conversation will become a drag. Women need to know their rights and exercise them. They need to find ways to prove themselves as they are taken for granted very easily. Hopefully one the thinking will change and women will be accepted for their true worth. Till then I’ll try to find ways to make the ‘Person’ understand.
Today, as I watched the Republic Day on Doordarshan, I realized many things. This blogpost is like an apology letter to our beloved nation.
Dear India,
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you. Happy Republic Day!
It’s your day today India. Today you became a truly democratic and a sovereign state. You have seen years of turmoil under the British Raj but you managed to pull through and changed the face of history by becoming the largest democracy in the world. You should know that I am and always will be proud of you.
You see, I’m writing this letter to express my guilt. I’ve made many unpleasant comments about you. I’ve cribbed and cribbed about you. I’ve have questioned you at every step. I kept talking about corruption and scams at every turn. I kept thinking about ways of getting out and settling in some foreign country. I’ve made unjust comments about your government and its governance. You must know that today I feel very remorseful about all things said and done.
But beloved India, I want to remind you again, in spite of all the negative remarks, I am proud of you and more over I’m proud of the fact that I am a part of you. You are a beautiful and a vibrant young nation. You have so much potential and I’m so glad that in the coming future I will become a contributor to your potential. I’m always in awe about the fact that there is so much unity in vast diversity. So many different people with so many different opinions all of them living together peacefully. There are so many religions, cultures and traditions that are a piece of you. Today I feel that there is no greater country than you. You are a patient nation, you understand and you are forgiving. I’m so thankful for all the things that you have done for all of us. You have a large heart my dear nation, how else would you listen to people from all walks of life? You don’t discriminate and you make room for change and development. There is so much that you do for us and yet we crib. I am truly sorry.
India, I hope you understand that I don’t mean any of those mean things that I say about you, it’s just that I know that you can do better. So this Republic Day I promise I’ll think twice before I make any nasty remarks about you. You are a unique nation and as a unique human being I am glad that I’m your citizen.
Thanking You,
Yours Sincerely
GreyMatter.
65 years ago when Dr B R Ambedkar finished writing our constitution, I bet he had an image of our nation in his head. He must’ve thought about the progress we would’ve made and how significant our country would’ve become in the world. Now I don’t know if we’ve lived up to his expectations but I can surely say that we will progress a lot more in the coming few years and soon enough he will be proud of us.
So this Republic Day, I wish that we become more prosperous and developed and together work towards a brighter future.
Mister! Yes, you.
You walked past me and I saw your eyes and I saw where they were looking. As we walked past, if I was looking at your face why couldn’t you look at mine? I hope you do realise that I have a head right above my torso, I’m not some headless monster walking around that you had nowhere else to look but there. Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I didn’t notice? What kind of pleasure did you receive by just looking? Don’t you realise, that little glance of yours makes me feel unsafe to walk down the streets of my own city. I didn’t look anywhere but at your eyes. But they were too busy to make any contact with mine. I’m pretty sure you don’t feel disgusted with yourself otherwise why would you do it. But you can’t imagine how disgusted I feel. I feel like you’ve undressed me in your head and imagining what’s there under my sweater. What would you take to just look at my eyes and not down-south.
I could just point out the fact that you might have a mother or a sister at home but I won’t because I understand that men with mothers and sisters also have desires. What I don’t understand is your power to control these desires. I’m guessing all humans are given the same amount of power to control their desires. So why couldn’t you do it? It’s not a difficult task. I’m not asking you to climb the ‘Everest’ twice; all I’m asking is for you to just look into my eyes when I walk past you. If you don’t want to look at my eyes, then look away. I don’t expect you to be chivalrous or honourable, I just expect you to be decent.
It is because of people like you that we generalise your sex to be equivalent to dogs and pigs. There are many who are decent, but because of you they too are dragged and strangled by this generalisation. I’m talking to the human inside of you, not the demon of lust. Please don’t give me the argument where you’d say ‘god has given me eyes, I shall look anywhere I’d want to’ or ‘it’s a free nation’. I hope god has also given you a brain and a mind to tell you that your deed was clearly wrong and I’m pretty sure that the majority of the nation would agree with me. Also don’t make me guess who your father is or was. I don’t care. Your actions were wrong and you should bear the consequences.
For once just imagine yourself to be on my side of the street and the same thing happens to you. How would you feel? I guess not that good. Don’t just think of me as breasts, I am also a human being and when you perform such actions, I feel like that you’ve stolen my identity as person. Women are more than what you think they are. Why do you still wear the turban of patriarchy? Why can’t you move forward and change with times? Why must you look there when my eyes are up here?
“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
Magic unfolds in every page and it slowly engulfs you into a world where your wildest dreams come true. Go ahead; you can be a wizard, a detective, a dancer, a vampire, an angel, a demon. You can be just about anybody or anything under the sun. Every book introduces to a new world which you wouldn’t even have imagined. It lets you be a part of its adventures. You discover new places both the ones that truly exist and the ones that are somebody’s figment of imagination.
As a child I started reading Amar Chitra Katha’s mythological comics and I became truly engrossed in their colourful and loud pictures wrapped around wonderful tales. Amar Chitra Katha comics were my fairytales and whenever I find a copy in a bookstore or a library, I make sure I read it. Then I read Panchatantra tales over and over again. After which I read many stories from ‘One Thousand and One Arabian Nights’ and ‘Grimm brother’s fairytales’. As I grew up, I solved the mysteries with ‘Famous Five’ and ‘The Secret Seven’. Many of my friends used to read similar books as I, so we used to exchange after reading our books.
Books have helped me out a lot. When I moved to Trivandrum, after spending two great years in Pathankot (Punjab) and seven in Bangalore (Karnataka), I felt lonely and lost. I had communication trouble with the people around me, as they weren’t comfortable speaking in English or Hindi and I couldn’t understand Malayalam. I was uncomfortable in school and always felt like an outcast and on top of that there was the pressure of 12th standard. ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky, ‘Looking for Alaska’ and ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by John Green and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger were some of the books that provided me with emotional support and made me mentally strong during those tumultuous times.
Everybody has always been lectured on the benefits of reading books, how it improves our vocabulary, how it educates us, how it makes us aware and cultured. But I feel books do much more than that. They make a spiritual connection with our soul. A good book enlightens and enriches us. Sometimes it manages to change our general perspective altogether. A novel is more than just a story or the characters involved. It becomes a part of your thought process and you seek to relate it to your day-to-day life. I often wonder why my friends complain about reading. Do they not derive the same joy as I do when I read? Is it because they didn’t read much during their childhood? Or is it an inborn thing like some people can paint and some can’t similarly some people enjoy reading and some don’t.
A voracious reader will read just about anything, from novels and magazines to the stickers on food jars and billboards on the streets. Reading is a fun sort of meditation that calms your head and replenishes your mind. So, if that novel or that piece of article remotely interests you, go ahead and read it.
greymatter21 