Month: October 2013

The Importance of Karva Chauth

Feminism, marriage

I believe Karva Chauth SHOULD be observed by ALL women extremely religiously and with full faith.

Wait..What did you say? You are above 20 and not yet married? How could you be so selfish? Do you know the amount of stress you give to your neighbour’s grandmas’ aunt’s dog on daily basis? And did you even consider the feelings of that old woman who lives two blocks away who had gone to states for a few years and when she came back the FIRST thing she asked was had you gotten married yet? SERIOUSLY..such inconsiderate person you are. You should have just found a guy for yourself in college (Of your same sub-sub-sub-sub caste, naturally, how can you like someone who is not one of us?) but as you failed to do so, you might as well lower your standards and spare the millions of aunties the daily pressure of your marriage. I am sure you did not fast properly as a child to get a God-like husband..huh ( I STILL maintain that I have NO IDEA where those parathas disappeared, aunty…what? It is NOT ketchup on my lips, its blood,,i got hurt..excuse me while I go wash it away) Afterall, did not you hear? An unmarried girl is a burden on her parents. What? Your parents do not consider you a burden? Well so what? That does NOT matter, as long as the SOCIETY THINKS you are a burden on your parents,  you are a burden on your parents, your parents opinion does not count. 

If you ARE fortunate enough to have married at the RIGHT age, CONGRATULATIONS!! You JUST earned yourself a right to be respected in this society! I am sure the amount of Dowry paid and the gifts that your parents continuously send your in-laws are TOTALLY worth that respect! Now go on, give them a MALE heir to support the respect. If unfortunately you (YES ONLY YOU because the science of the X Y chromosome is STUPID and you are the only person responsible for the kids that are born) are at fault and give birth to a girl, make sure you make up to their hurt feelings and repair the damage to their izzat by giving birth to a SON as soon as POSSIBLE. If you do not have a child after a few years, SERIOUSLY, why did you even get married to their Son? The amount of inconvenience you put them through, you should be throughly ashamed of yourself and they rightfully take away that respect they gave you on your marriage, you worthless girl.

Now that you got married and gave them a Son, EXCELLENT! You are well on your way to be a respected for the rest of your life! Kudos to you! You have managed to fulfill the MAIN reasons that you were put on this earth!

Still Why should you fast entire day for your husband’s life? The answer is quite simple really. The respect that you earned after marriage would be taken away if your husband dies! Because obviously it would be your fault if he dies. If he does die, you not only loose the respect, but you are also labeled as bad luck and you would be expected to leave all things that give you happiness, all colours and spend your eternity away from the society. That friend’s daughter’s marriage? Well you will not be invited as your husband died, if you go, her husband might die as well. I don’t believe I have to explain such utterly simple logic to you!

So, Girls, I say FAST, fast with every thing you have for the only way that this society lets you live with respect is if your husband is alive,

So babe, you got two options in front of you…either fast to all the Gods you know for your husband’s long life or GET UP, SPEAK UP AND STOP THIS SOCIETY MAKING STUPID RULES AND MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR WOMEN TO LIVE.

Of course the first option is extremely easy, the second extremely difficult. The choice is yours girl.

Just keep this in mind:

“We must all make a choice between what is right and what is easy….it is our choices that determine who we really are, far more than our abilities”

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The Kind Of Guy I Will Marry

Feminism

Ever since I entered the supposed “marriageable Age” aunties from all across have joined hands in the ultimate mission of finding the “perfect” guy for me, strangely these Aunties have more interest in my marriage than me or my parents!

While they put all their energies finding eligible guys by roping in relative’s relatives, astrologers, stars, charts, and all that ish, strangely nobody (Literally NO ONE) thought to ask me what kind of guy I am looking for as apparently if our stars match and he is from the same caste, that should be enough, or so I am told!

Unfortunately for them, as a child I had just 1 Barbie and millions of books, so instead of caring for what society expects, my parents prefered I learnt to use my brains (Thank God for them!)

So, just to make the auntie’s work easier, here I compile my (obviously unasked and unimportant) thoughts on my marriage 😉

1) He should be ready to leave everything and everybody for me

2) He should change his name and loose the identity he has created till now and be known in future as myy husband, THAT’s IT.

3) He will see my parents as his parents but he should not be much in contact with his parents

4) As my parents would be his priority, he should keep them as his FIRST priority, if he has to loose his job he has to be ready for it, Afterall, my parents need their hot chappatis,

5) He will cook and clean and do laundry

6) If he has a pet of any kind whom he absolutely adores, he would have to leave it. As it would be absolutely hard for him to adjust to me and my family, how can he bring a pet?

7) He will daily wear signs like manglsutra, put a long red mark on his forhead and bangles.

8) He will not talk to any sundry girls

9) He will not have any friends of his own

10) As my entire family’s izzat lies on HIS AND ONLY HIS head, he will not wear jeans, T-shirts, shirts, pants, shorts etc. My family is not THAT traditional so instead of DHOTI we will allow him to wear pyjamas.

11) He would have to keep his mouth shut in my ‘Family matters’

12) He would do all that he is told meekly

13) He should have no opinion/thoughts of himself

14) If we have kids, he would be SOLE caretaker of them, anything they do will reflect on HIS and ONLY HIS lack of parenting skills.

15) He should regularly fast and conduct pujas for my long life.

If as a guy, you are reading this and found this list ABSOLUTELY AND UTTERLY RIDDICULOUS, I have news for YOU!!

Being a fellow human being when you place THESE EXACT SAME expectations on me, I find the EXACT SAME feeling of utter riddiculousness. And NO, when you clad these expectations in the beautiful coating called “traditions” it remains EXTREMLY STUPID.

So, my dear Aunties, I will marry an intelligent fellow who accepts me for who I am, how I am and What I am and not bound me by stupidities. Age is not a concern, money is not a concern, casteism is absurd in itself so obviously it is of no concern.

My only concern is he should have brains to think for himself and not be a sheep and follow (or should i say force me to follow) stupid things in name of traditions.

He HAS NO RIGHT to ask me to give up something for him, if he is not willing to give up that EXACT thing for me. PERIOD.

I hope THAT is clear aunties!

Let’s not waste my time and yours after double-standarded douchebags!

Cheers!

here is what SUPERWOMAN looks for in a guy! Might I add I agree entirely to this list!!!

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My Pawfect Life: The world through my Eyes

MY PAWFECT LIFE

By Scooby Labrador

Photo

As it is some kind of holiday, I got my bath today (YAAY!!!) and then instead of usual breakfast I had EGGS!! I LOVE EGGS!!

And now as I lie on MY bed (YES IT IS MINE, If anyone else wants to use the bed they can adjust themselves around me, I am quite adjusting that way, you see)..

Anyway, I asked Dhwani what she does with this stupid black box all day?

She said that we can tell stories and events here and people read them! So I thought which would be more entertaining story than mine?

Here goes: My name is Scooby. I was born on 28th March 2012. The two-legged people look at me and tell me I am a “Yellow Labrador” God knows what that means, but I think it is a very important fact as every new human I meet state this fact.

Humans are such strange, feeble creatures..My mom told me these humans think they are very strong and intelligent, I laugh every time I hear that.. If we dogs could converse in human language, we would be able to get a few points straight with them! But more about that in the later posts…

I LOVE to have fun…so I wake up with the sun (sometimes even before sun) and wake up my two-legged best friend (Dhwani) all ready to start my day, but she is almost always looking at me and saying not now, go away, it’s still DARK Scooby etc but I don’t let that bother me at all.. I keep on dancing and jumping and licking till she gets up! And when she does and says “GOOD MORNING SCOOBY”, I get soooooooo excited and happy that I do my happy dance and jump even more

Then Dhwani and I go for a walk where I get to sniff to my heart’s content! I also have a best friend Jacky, people say he is a 10-year-old Pomeranian. I always go to check on him but he always runs away from me, whenever he sees me coming, but still I just LOVE to go to his house everyday and look at him. I am sure, one of these days he too will want to play with me, and I don’t want to miss that day.

After walk, I have my breakfast (Yummmmmmmmm)…oops there is a small puddle of drool formed below my tongue even while I write this..I LOVE to eat! If only I could eat and eat and eat the whole day, I would be the happiest dog on earth. Hang on, I already am happiest dog on earth but if my eating wish came true, I would be happiestestest…est dog on Earth!

Other than that, some really funny looking two-legged man (Dhwani calls him “Doctor”) comes to our house some time and sticks funny tasting rocks and liquids in my mouth and inserts pins in my behind, but then he gives me a big kiss and a puppy treat and I again become happy! He says he does this so that I do not get sick, but I really do not believe him.

*Yaaawwn*

I am sleepy now, will let you know about my life later..

Goodnight!

Guardian Angles by Rohit Gore: Book Review

Books

Book Cover description:

The Guardian Angels is the epic and tumultuous story of two star-crossed lovers who weren’t just soul-mates but were also each other’s protectors.The fates of Adi Mehta and Radha Deodhar are deeply entwined when within days of their first rendezvous they save each other’s lives.Despite their vast sociopolitical differences, they are drawn to an uncertain future fraught with contrasting ambitions, personas and ideologies.. . . he is the son of a billionaire, she is the daughter of a socialist.. . . he is quiet and unassuming, she is a firebrand and spirited.However, the unexplained phenomena ties them forever – whenever they are in peril, they are each other’s only saviors.Over the following two decades Adi and Radha live through hope and despair, joy and sadness, and try to decipher their relationship. As the truth of their bond is revealed, they must confront the true nature of love, and ultimately, their destinies.

 

My Thoughts:

When I was asked to Review this book, I must say I was skeptical, but agreed anyhow. After all, who in their right mind would say no to a free book, eh?

I like to read books that has latent author’s shadow in it. sadly, major part of Indian- English Literature now has Chetan Bhagat(CB)’s Shadow, irrespective of  whether he has written it or not.

When I picked up this book, I was mentally prepared for another CB-like book, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Guardian Angel’s story, even though a love story, is very fresh. The character’s are relate-able especially the girl. There were so many points in the book that made me go “THAT is soo me!” or “THIS is exactly what I would have done!” he guy’s character was a bit over the top.

The story is about Aditya and Radha who meet when they are twelve. Both are totally different personalities, with totally different interests and come from different economic backgrounds, still something keeps bringing them together especially when one of them is in some trouble.

Instead of being the boring old “Oh so in love” couple, Adi and Radha are best friends. Their relation is based on friendship, which makes it much too endearing.

Other than that, Harry Potter reference! Potterhead in me mentally gave a friendship shake to Radha for this!!:) 🙂

The writing is fresh and breezy, which makes this a really good book to enjoy when you are in a mood for some light reading! So, pick up this book, go make yourself some tea, put up your feet and just start reading! 😉

And yes, this book will definitely make me go get other works from Rohit Gore and give them a read as well! Can’t wait!!

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

The Lunchbox: Movie Review

movies

The Lunch Box: Movie Poster.

Director:  Ritesh Batra

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui 

Introduction: Two Strangers, One Lunchbox and the loneliness one feels when constantly surrounded by people.

Trailer:

My Thoughts:

A truly brilliant film!

Can two people fall in love irrespective of the fact that they have never met?

The raw emotions that are captured takes the film to a whole new level.

The film set in Mumbai, revolves around a mistaken delivery by the Dabbawalas of Mumbai, which leads to a relationship between an about to retire, Saajan, also a lonely widower and an unhappy housewife, Ila as they start exchanging notes through the daily lunchbox.

The Lunchbox, a man who’s been grieving since his wife died, a woman who wants to seek her husbands attention to rekindle their love and the only way she’ll do it is cooking . This woman wants to cook her way through her husbands heart and she would’ve succeeded only if the very famous ‘dabbawalas’ of Mumbai city would not have messed up her plan by delivering the hard cooked and awesomely delicious food to Mr. Fernandez. Realizing the mistake of the delivery she writes Fernandez a note about it and the in a series of fortunate and unfortunate notes the movie turns out to be beautiful.The relation between Ila and an Aunty unstairs (Whose voice is heard but never seen)

All in all a good movie to watch!

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Kiski Kitchen?

Feminism

Patriarchy hurts BOTH men AND women.
See this video on how society reacts to a Man who wants to break gender stereotypes.

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Date A Girl Who Reads

Books, Fangirl

Girl Reading Print

I read this article by Rosemarie Urquico about a year back and loved it!  Today, by chance I came upon it on Goodreads, so I am copying it here so that I can read it whenever I want 🙂

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

—–

“You should date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”