Murdered Innocence

...I lose myself in pieces,
As I lose you in fullness….

The pain is very human, very searing..devoid of communal colour…

Tagged!

YAY!! And with this, my existence as a blogger is established!! :D :D

was tagged by div n farah simultaneously!! Thank you guys for tagging me at the same time and saving me time! :P

These are the rules:

1. Link the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Answer all the questions asked below!
4. Tag 5 bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

8 things I am most passionate about:
1. Cleanliness!! I'm a freak when it comes to being neat n organised! I clean my room 5 times a day..maybe even more if I still have time n energy left!
2. READING! I'll grab anything..magazines, newspapers, books etc etc and will stick to it like glue
3. Family n friends: I've the coolest folks and the most adorable n handsome [:(] brother! Best time with the family is at the dinner table with us discussing/debating about the state of affairs worldwide! I loorrrvvvvfffeee hanging out with friends and sleepovers!!
Will prefer a good movie with friends over sex. Sex is over-rated :P
4. Making funny noises: I stand next to the window n scream "behahahahah" to innocent ppl talking their evening walk. Poor souls are caught off-guard and search for the source of sound :P *i'm wicked!* I also scream Kaboom kaboom while driving. This one time, I met with an accident and my last words before passing out were KABOOM!!
5. DANCE: Few extra pounds don't contain me from dancing. I just HAVE to dance at concerts n satsangs..even if i'm the only one dancing!! I can do a jig even while walking in the corridors!!
6. Talking Animatedly: I CAN'T talk with a straight face. I'll incorporate all possible expressions and wave my hands around. Sometimes it even hits people :P phew! so much for a stupid tongue exercise! :P
7. Satsang!!!: i love going to Art of Living satsangs! Trust me..thats how i define bliss. Just lose urself into the music n the meditation. And the afterglow of each song can't be put into words..
8. Music: I’m pretty prejudiced when it comes to this. I listen to a few favourites and will not try a new band unless pestered! And as far as metal is concerned, I listen to ONLY the gods! Robindra Shongeet is very very close to the heart :) I detest people who mock Indian Classical Music.

8 things I wanna do before I die:

hmmm..before i exit! here it is!

1. Visit Lakshadweep! Every time we plan, something or the other happens!! :(
2. Adopt a girl child and help realise dreams set in her twinkling eyes
3. Dedicate life after 40, to the society. Maybe open a children's home/empower women + Art Of Living is always there!
4. Ride on The Palace on Wheels
5. Go snorkeling with Ayun in the blue waters of Andamans..trust me..its one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!
6. The gondola ride for my honeymoon!!!!!!!!
7. Blow away money-just for a day :P at a Las Vegas Casino
8. Get a tattoo!!

8 things I say often:

1. 'Fuck!' I've used it in the presence of teachers, dad's colleagues n god knows who all??!!:O I use it for everything! fucked up coll, the play was fuckin awesome..my substitute for all expletives!!
2. 'Bloody Hell!!' For a funnier version, watch The Bing Bang theory!! Sheldon Sheldon..oh bloody hell!!
3. 'Abey Nautanki!!'
4. 'DUH'..well duh..everybody uses it!
5. Behahahahahahaha..laughter :D :D n bruhahahahahahahahaha..*evil sadistic laughter* :P
6. 'Yellow!!' i know Chris Martin will skin me alive! But i just can't say hello offlate!
7. 'tee hee'..my version of the sheepish smile :P
8. 'Listen up!'you know I'm about to scream when i start off with this! :P
*** I just had to add this: 'Kyaaaaaaa??!!'..tee hee..bollywood's profound effects!

8 books I last read:

1. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts..friggin awesome!
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini..this book is a must read for it beautifully potrays the shades and inner strength of a woman
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini..innocence
4. The City of Joy by Dominique Lappiere..hope and faith..and cuz i love Calcutta!
5. The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma
6. Honour Among Thieves by Jeffery Archer
7. Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon..finally Mr. Crapster churns out something worth reading!
8. Malgudi Days by R.K.Narayan..cuz i keep reading it again n again n still not get tired :)

8 songs I listen to over and over again:

This is brutal!!!!!

1. Mahadeva-Pandit Jasraj

2. Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho-Jagjit Singh

3. Three coins in a fountain- Frank Sinatra

4. Tere bina zindagi se koi-Lata Mangeshkar n Kishore da
5. Don't know why - Norah Jones
6. Swallowed in the sea-Coldplay
7. High Hopes- PINK FLOYD
8. A case of you-Joni Mitchell

And now I tag :
Bawa, Nikesh, Madhav, Saikat n Solitaire!!

Sita's Silence

Dedicated to the strongest-willed woman who walked this planet-Sita

I disappear. And everything is silenced. The accusations, the taunts, the weariness. The living down of a sin I had never committed. I disappear and you bind me in temples forever as a goddess and forget the living vital woman that I was. I disappear. And all of you women, who come after me, in villages and cities, suffer trying to live up to my name. None of you question, none of you try to reason. I disappeared, suffering, chaste Sita, into the bowels of the earth. And all of you are the victims of my silence.

The purest, most loving woman who was ever born. Princess and queen. The most devoted wife on earth, the wife who never rebelled. You believed all that? You, women yourselves, believed so many lies?

Of course, I loved my husband. When I came to Ayodhya as a bride I was as much in love as the books tell you, as the songs sung at dusk in the temple courtyards. I look back at myself, in those innocent days at the palace, and smile. I can still smile at it all.

And then palace intrigue and banishment to the forests. Even then I was happy. A sheltered princess, having the great adventure in the deep woods of the great forests. That was possibly the last time that we were so content. Rama and I. The very complicated, intensely insecure man that I had married. Blithely. Without knowing of the deep vagaries of human nature.

Moving out with her husband. That was the best move for a woman in love. But I didn’t think of it as a move in the game then. I didn’t even realize that it was a game. I wonder now. Wounds. Violence. There’re many forms. You don’t have to be physically cruel to a woman to destroy her.

And then the hullabaloo of being kidnapped by Ravana. The rescue. The hope, the joy when I saw my husband again. And I was met with accusations. You cannot be chaste if you had been in another man’s house for so many months.

He couldn’t cast me off then and I came back to Ayodhya . And then. Unexpectedly. Suddenly. “Was he kind to you?” “Yes..” for Ravana had been kind to me. The Ayodhya brothers. Most of their victories had been against women. Taraka, Shoorpanakha, Tara-the monkey queen….Kaikeyi, the queen mother and finally, oh yes, finally…Sita.

I was kidnapped by Ravana who was a ruthless man. But he had been kind to me. Even when his brothers were dying, even when Indrajit, his most beloved son, was killed by Lakshaman, he never once sought to harm me. I came back, unscathed. But my husband didn’t believe that. Or in me.

It was the King I encountered. Not the boy that I once knew.

And finally exile. Pregnant and banished again into the deep forest that I now knew, better than the vast, cruel halls of palace. I did not protest. The laughing princess of Mithila had become a frightened queen.

Could I have changed all that? Yes, if I had been the silent, subservient Sita that you all think of me to be. Yes, if I had realized that loving someone was not enough. Yes, if I had told Rama that I was terrified of Ravana. But I could stand up to him. That was unforgivable.

And then because I had my sons, the twin heirs of Ayodhya, I was summoned back to that bleak kingdom. Did I imagine the joy in my husband’s eyes when he saw me? That fleeting brief gleam of happiness? Perhaps. For again in the open courtyard of the palace, I was faced with the same accusations, the same taunts. And I left.

The earth didn’t open to cradle me in her arms. That is what legends and myths say. Reality is different. I left. My children and my husband. I walked out of the city and into my own life. Sita was no more.

Was the cause of destruction of my marriage Ravana? No. For one day, Rama would probably have been suspicious of somebody else. For I always answered back and suffered. I could never keep quiet. Sita was never silent. If she had been, she’d have remained Ayodhya’s Queen.

I did not say that I never loved my husband. Only that he never did..or trusted enough..or believed enough.

And sometimes in the cool shades of a monsoon evening, when the rain twinkles through the leaves, I catch the glimpse of a golden deer.. I remember Rama..and am glad that Sita vanished.

Pieces of me..

Sitting by the window of the old rickety bus,

That took you to your destination,

You had told me once, "gorgeous moon",

Today i sit by my window,

And stare at the same iridescent moon;

Only today, I'm in pieces,

One part of me wants to stay,

One part of me wants to run to you,
One part of me wants to cry,
Only today, there are no promises,
What went wrong and where,
I wish i could find all the answers,
And make you mine forever...

Today she rests in peace..

For the past one month or maybe more, the one news that only became duller by the day was the Aarushi murder case. Ekta Kapoor was kind enough in not showing mercy to the Talwar family and mint money by trying to produce yet another soap (on Aarushi's life), News channels and motor mouth reporters gave us a whole encyclopedia on shit journalism. And while I went about doing my daily chores, spending 47seconds a day on what has become of today's world, ma went about screaming at my younger brother for he's in class XII and NOT studying, bhai went about showing his usual disregard to amma's oral bashings, perhaps papa was the only person in the house who religiously followed this piece of news. And every time he went to sleep, he said, a "father" can never do such a thing. And maybe that’s what all fathers said when they heard about this horrific, cold-blooded murder. 

Strange, we say so much about mothers, but not enough about fathers. That one person who toils throughout the day just to make ends meet. So that he can give his children all the happiness and facilities that he didn’t receive. He’s the person who completes your mother, who leaves a new-born baby and an exhausted mother back home on a monday morning, to go to work so he can arrange for your first toys and diapers, he's the one who inspires you, who solves your problems, who signs your report cards, who supports you come what may. And for a daughter he’ll always remain the only perfect man..

Today, justice prevails, today there's hope, today fathers heave a sigh of relief, today the Talwar family gets the first true chance of mourning the huge loss, today my dad will sleep peacefully and today, Aarushi hopefully will rest in peace..

GRACIAS :)

DIVYA MULANJUR--The Hoorpari!!

Monk-ey--Donke-ey,endless talks, concerts, comforting hugs, warmth,fights, awwww moments, tears, parents, posters, english lab, chocolate, movies, surprises, beach, frankie, !@#$%HOD, moon, music, rains, books, shopping, noodles, putting up with people, accesories, gifts, health tips, hinglish songs, pronounciations :P, orkut, love, bitching, break-ups, more bitching, poetry, blog, F.R.I.E.N.D.S., aimless chatting, career, coll survivor, chocolate pudding, laughter, sarcasm, projects, guys ;), results, constipation :P, being there, sleepovers, preparatory holidays, crossing roads, temple trips, bunking clasees, best-students award, spencer plaza, citi-centre, mathematics!!, phone,missing each other, smiles, masti, holi, visu, haircuts, comments, bossing brothers around, cows n bulls, fabindia, gift-vouchers, event winners, hosts :P, midnight movies, siamese twins...

come hell or high tide..will always be there monk-ey..ooommaaahhh >:D<

ARUN MOHAN--The Boyfriend

Love, night talks, 23M, thinking about each other, warmth, care, fights, hi5, tears, career counsellor, songs, orkut, join-the-dots, promises, dreams, missing each other, mallu-land, gifts, poems, gtalk, SMSes, gmail, photos, cuddle,jealousy, stars, hugs, dedications, holding hands, pain, beach, screaming, smiles, laughter, su-do-ku, mistakes,cadbury, apologies, hope, more hugs, bright days, forgiving mistakes, dependence, independence, addiction, hogging, chicken biriyani, means the world, pepsi, kisses, go vegan missions, more cuddle, throw in some more chicken biriyani, another failed attempt at bein vegetarian, being there, silence, energy, completes me,opposite poles, patching up,understanding,yet another cadbury, distance doesn't matter...

We've overcome a lot together..tough times ahead will also pass..Amen :)

TUSHAR ..Bhai hai re bhai!!

--,Gaindaswami :P, confidante', partner in crime, laughter, F.R.I.E.N.D.S., fun on dining table, complete opposite, gadget buff, egg-scramble, perfect leo, handsome, fights, festivals, comp genius, badminton, achievements, physics, prodigy, comments, cricket, movies, lazy-bum, maggi, hugs, paintings, encouragement, assignments, noodles from line-hotel, records, scooty trips, dressing tips, surprises for ma n papa :), gifts, rakhi, phtographer, tickle tickle :P

You'll be on your own in a few years..I wish you all the luck in the world :D

SHILPA NARAYANA a.k.a Mayya ..The Philosopher

-Paulo Coelho, dal tadka, daily gyan,rains, underground :P, corporate woman!, spendthrift, lifestyle, caring, phone calls, optimism, inspirational SMSes :P, midnight surprises, gifts, treats, sabzi makhanwala, overnight stays, senior :P,laughter, dept.symposium, msuic, mood swings, pravachans, listener, smiles, hiring autos, being there, movies, hugs, humour (yeah rrright!), testimonials, hyderabadi biriyani :P, concerts, Ayn Rand, RDB-YO!!, orkut, noodles, photos, lots of photos!, salaam-e-ishq (argh!!), pizza, support....

They don't make them like you anymore shil..LIVE ON!! :D >:D<

Strange Jalapeno Flavoured World...

Scene 1

Ma: You got back home from tuition an hour back. Enough of your "computer break". Now go sit and study. Do you know how much hardwork it takes to find a seat in a reputed institution?

Son: Yea mom! I know it all. We go through this everyday!

Ma: So don't just sit and waste time. Act! and go sit and study..

Son: Yea ok ma..just 5 more minutes. I'm trying to fix the newest problem the system is facing (*if only, we could sue good ol' Bill*)

Son: Why is this country so sad? one, reputed implied "has to be IIT"! Two, I don't even want to be an engineer. I want a course that'll help me pursue my passions:automobiles computers(and by that I don't mean sitting for an IT company and coding for an already developed world!) . Three, I should've been in America.....

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Scene 2:

Good-for-nothing-guy : Rajasthan sarkar ko hamari maange man-ni hee hongi. Nahi to hum jaipur bandh kar denge aur delhi roko abhiyan bhi shuru kar denge.

Boot-licker 1: jo "shri" good-for-nothing kahenge, hum wahi karenge, hum unka saath denge.

Boot licker 2: shri good-for nothing ke netritve mein hum zaroor jeetenge

Boot-licker 3: Haan bahiyon. Bolo good-for-nothing ki jai!

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Scene 3:

Loser 1: Man, the roads in this city suck!

Loser 2: Blame the Biharis!

Loser 1: This city will never be clean. People litter everywhere all the time. And look at the roads yaar. Ace spitters have happily painted it red!

Loser 2: Blame the UP-ites!

Loser 1: Its been a week since i started looking for a job man. No vacancies anywhere!!

Loser 2: Blame the Biharis and UP-ites!

---------------------------

Scene 4:

Son from scene 1: Mom! Dad! The US university has replied! I'll get a full scholarship! I'll finally pursue a course of my choice!! Now i just have to wait for the Visa interview!!

(enter daughter)

Daughter: Hi papa, hi ma

Dad: What happened beta?

Daughter: The cut-off list for bla bla college is out. I couldn't make it.

Ma: But how is that possible? You scored a 94.6%

Daughter: Yea..the cut off was 95%.

Dad: Alright then, decided. Apply for a course overseas. Don't worry, we'll partially fund it and take a loan for the rest

Ma: Yes beta, that looks like the only way out.

Girl (beaming smile!): oh thanks ma n dad! You are the BEST parents ever! (group hug)

Dad: And what about other classmates of yours?

Girl: Rahul and Raj couldn't make it either. Simran is moving to UK,Nina will drop a year and try again and no surprises; "Mr. I-don't-need- to- worry-i-was-born-with-a-reservation" made it

*Group Sigh*

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Scene 5

Somewhere in US...on a webcam...

Kids: Hello mom! Hello dad!!

Parents: How are you kids??

Kids: Good!

Parents: So when are you coming back to India?

Kids: No mom, no dad. Not coming back. We've applied for a permanent residence/citizenship. Hope our village, on the Bihar-UP border prospers. Hope India realises the 2020 vision. Anyway..gotta rush for work..catch you later..bye ma..bye papa...we love you (*and INDIA*)

Lost...

One of my favourite hindi poems. It beautifully highlights how India is losing out on brotherhood, love and peace-the very virtues on which this nation was founded. Here's some food for thought. So you know what to do, next time when they're out to trigger another riot...

                                        Gawan Baithe

Masjid to bana liya humne
Sirf imaan gawan baithe
Mandir to bacha liya lad bhid kar

Kewal bhagwan gawan baithe                                                                   

Dharti ko naap liya humne
Chand sitaron tak pahunch gaye
Poori kayanat ko pehchaan liya humne
Bus insaan gawan baithe

Aur jab-jab dharti pe hua hai sarhadon se batwara
Nuksan hua hai dono ka
Hum pakistan gawan baithe
Wo hindustan gawan baithe
 

--UNKNOWN