CRY.

This is little baby Sana, a girl of 6 I got really attached to, these past few visits to Ghulam Hussain Chawl in Juhu. What makes her even more special is she shares her name with my little sister. A million hugs and kisses wouldn't be enough for this kid, and the potential she has.

Tomorrow morning, she'll go to school for the very first time. :)
^^That's her and her ABCs.

Volunteering for CRY truly is one of the best decisions I've made. 

What's This Talk of Women's Rights?

1. If you get a chance to look at my closet, you'll see a whole lot of whites, blacks, reds and blues. The occasional pink. The rare violet. The elusive grey.  And deep down, nestled between an old sweatshirt and a t-shirt eligible for pension, you'll find a yellow.

That is the yellow I paired with my dark blue jeans and sauntered off to college in, about a year ago. It had been just a week or so into the academic year, when I was still trying to put names to happy faces. The lecture was Political Science. I'm still unsure how that subject found its way into a course on business administration, but BBA is a mixed bag degree anyway. You learn a lot of something, and not much about anything. It's almost a conspiracy to ensure none of us gets too smart. 

But I go astray.Back to Pol Science.

I have a somewhat permanent seat in a corner, towards the back of the class. And yes, I was dreaming of crop circles and what Jack Reacher would look like, if real. The professor was attempting to liven up his class by creating a debate. The necessity of female reservation. Same old same old. Women require governmental assistance. The word 'empowerment' was frivolously thrown around.

When all of a sudden I realized what a sexist turn the entire debate had taken, and how sexist the professor was himself. For the first time, the girl in the yellow t-shirt spoke up and denounced all such drivel. For quite some time after, class-mates came up to me saying, 'I know you. You're the girl in the yellow t-shirt, na?'

2. A girl was voted in as this year's Roadie(popular MTV reality show) ONLY because she was a girl, when far more deserving candidates(men in this case), were voted out because they were men.

You are sexist if you judge a person primarily on their gender. 

History is peppered with instances of women being treated as second-class citizens. Primarily due to religion, and the orthodoxy associated with the same. Witch-hunting is a widely cited example. Ultimately, it was reason that succeeded and enabled women to demonstrate their ability on equal footing with men. 

The basic premise for all moral evaluation is that we are free-willed individuals with the capacity to reason. It is my belief that a person should be judged by their chosen morals, and actions committed of their own free will. To judge somebody on factors that aren't freely chosen, is to ignore the only valid basis on which another human can be judged. It is completely irrational, and to that extent sub-human. We may be praised ad criticized for our actions, not on our skin colour and gender. Politically, this ideal translates into equality before the law; no discrimination against a person but no special favours granted either. 

While humans are politically equal, they are not physically, intellectually or morally equal. But these are factors not determined by gender, race or sexual orientation, and therefore cannot be equalized by special treatment in terms of the same. Which makes egalitarianism a moot point in the political spectrum. Egalitarians make the point that humans are equal regardless of gender, sex, weight, skin colour. Yet, the practical effect of this is to give special treatment to certain groups over others based on their gender, sex, weight and skin colour. It is self-contradictory and hypocritical. A demand for political equality is turned into a demand for something more, when talk of reservations and quotas come into the picture.

Contrary to popular perception, a right is not an entitlement, rather it is a freedom. A freedom to choose. 

It is the freedom to apply for a job, not freedom to be given a job because the employer wants to create a superficial diversity that looks good on paper.

It is the freedom to give a common entrance examination, and to be accepted into an institution based on your marks, rather than the colour of skin.

It is the freedom to work hard and merit a promotion, not freedom to be promoted to complete an "equality quota."

That is the major issue I have with feminism, the basic premise of which is that women are disadvantaged deliberately on the basis of gender. It conveniently evades the issue the reality that men and women are different; not intellectually, politically or morally, but physically and emotionally. There do exist natural differences between men and women, and denial of this fact is denial of sexual identity. And there are many tasks more suited to one gender than the other, and there does exist a natural preference for some occupations over the other by gender. Feminists do not argue for the situation to be more objective and tolerable for all, rather that women should be given a better shot for being women.

I am not oblivious to the fact that there are certain communities that are not treated fairly in the current system. Women. African Americans. The obese.The treatment meted out to them is far from perfect. Everything from sexism to racism to sexual ignorance is prevalent in societies all over the world, developed and under-developed. 

But these are issues that need to fought ideologically. A pertinent role model who can shape cultured ideas and opinions is the requirement. Over-compensating these people with special benefits is not the answer. A sustained change in cultural mindset is.

Where Is My Birthday Party?

You won't believe it if I told you.
Hell, I didn't believe it myself.

In the idyllic haze of pink balloons, paper mache, hand-written invites, cute frocks, scrumptious wafers on paper plates, a fat slice of chocolate cake, games of musical chairs and the rest...
In my eighteen years of existence, I have never had a birthday party.

I've attended so many birthday parties and returned beaming with return-gift in hand, that I somehow assumed I'd always had one myself. No magic show for me. Neither a pinata.

On my wishlist for my 19th, a birthday party at McDonalds with all of the above.
Pleeeeeease. :(

How Can You Not Love Her? :D

“A lot of women are outraged by the use of Photoshop in magazine photos. I say a lot of women because I have yet to meet one man who could give a fat turd about the topic. Not even a gay man. I feel about Photoshop the way some people feel about abortion. It is appalling and a tragic reflection on the moral decay of our society… unless I need it, in which case, everybody be cool. Do I think Photoshop is being used excessively? Yes. I saw Madonna’s Louis Vuitton ad and honestly, at first glance, I thought it was Gwen Stefani’s baby. Do I worry about overly retouched photos giving women unrealistic expectations and body image issues? I do. I think that we will soon see a rise in anorexia in women over seventy. Because only people over seventy are fooled by Photoshop. Only your great-aunt forwards you an image of Sarah Palin holding a rifle and wearing an American-flag bikini and thinks it’s real. Only your uncle Vic sends a photo of Barack Obama wearing a hammer and sickle T-shirt and has to have it explained to him that somebody faked that with the computer. People have learned how to spot it.”

Young Adulthood.

(thank you, Flickr)

We would rather be ruined than changed

 We would rather die in our dread

Than climb the cross of the moment

And let our illusions die.

-The Age of Anxiety

W.H.Auden

These lines of verse unfailingly remind me of the people choosing the safe over the risk every single day. It's unfortunate people are more anxious about maintaining that level of safety rather than about taking the plunge.

Forgetfulness: Animated Poetry by Billy Collins

Oh, look what I found. :) :) :)
I love this video! Also check out The Last Cigarette, Man in Space and Now and Then by Billy Collins.
They're just wonderful. Eeeeeeeeee! I love Youtube. :D

Can We Please Stop Calling Chetan Bhagat A Representative Of The Youth?

This man has widely been hailed the Lalit Modi of Indian literature, and a brilliantly exploitative marketing genius. However, comparing him to a millionaire pseudo-exiled from his own country is hardly a fair comparison, in my mind. I would rather call him the Dabanng of Indian literature. He provides affordable entertainment to an often overlooked segment of the market. He caters to the Lowest Common Denominator, and is explicitly committed to accepting the people's verdict over critical judgment. Not unlike a lot of corrupt politicians we all know, in that sense. Most definitely, he is responsible for spawning off the reading habit among many of the nation. 

Let me be clear about one thing at the very outset. I am no fan of his work. But this is not a post bashing up an individual who knows exactly what anyone who has read more than ten books in their life will say about him. 

It is just an attempt at understanding what makes him work in some circles, and not in others. Because honestly, I have not the faintest idea how he managed to capture the zeitgeist of middle-class India. He literally took it by storm, didn't he? And who on earth made him eligible to represent me and my kind?

He is said to have opened up the market for a whole generation of non-readers in a country where English is the second language. How? By pricing his book at Rs. 95.

To the best of my memory, I believe it was Anurag Mathur's infinitely funnier, more insightful and better written "The Inscrutable Americans"  that released in '91, that opened the market.

At the Jaipur Literature Festival he said, (I read somewhere on the internet), that critics do not understand his literature, and who he writes for. He said that many people didn't understand that his books are read by government-school kids, for whom English was a second language. He claims that he provides that segment an entry point into the world of literature.

Now, English is a second language for most people in our country. Professors and peons alike. Yet, and I know this from personal experience, English textbooks carry simplified, abridged pieces by renowned literary greats, from Tagore to Blyton to Kipling. Even in Marathi. Who then, does he talk of? 

He fools himself if he truly believes he is doing the general public a great service by his style of writing. All this talk of him being responsive to the literary needs of the masses is all bull in my opinion. Because with that statement comes the implicit suggestion that had we been a society of developed readers, he would have written literature of a higher order. That never fails to amuse me.

Bhagat is a man who has managed to spin his own mediocrity into a virtue. He is extremely unpretentious about the stuff he spins out. A brilliant, inverse-snobbish marketing strategy I bet he picked up in management school. All this talk about 'catering to the masses'? (We all agree he is the best at that, don't we.) His genius lies in catering to the people who don't know enough about books to recognize a quality product if it hit them in the head, sell it at the price of coconuts and woah, next thing you know, you've written a 'bestseller'. He caters to people who never read a book review, and if they ever do, shun it for the 'big words'.

I checked his Facebook page before I wrote this, (look at the tremendous level of dedication), and discovered his 12 principles of writing. All it talks about is how to best commercialize creativity, rather than writing itself.

I know what makes him work. He writes about issues that have captured popular imagination, but are not mainstream. The mediocre lives of students in an elite engineering college. The lives of call centre employees. Inter-caste marriage. Throw in some premarital s-e-x to make it 'cool'.

He attests to the fact that he is primarily an entertainment writer. Agreed. Entertain, he does. In the same way Munni Badnaam Hui and Sheila Ki Jawani entertain.

Let him remain that. That's all I'm pleading for.

(I hope the critics ignore him completely, but I don't expect they will. They enjoy coming with a pre-conceived mindset and filling up good column space with satire and wit.)

Let him not sit at TOI organised "Aman ki Aasha" literary sessions aimed at fuelling a positive India-Pak situation. What he did last year was downright stupid to say the least, if you're in the know. He created a completely us-versus-them scenario with brilliant Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif. His comments were reminiscent of the ill-considered, badly-timed stupidity of India's many chest-thumping, lassi-drinking rednecks.

His recent off-colour tweet on Father's Day, some nonsense about coins and vending machines only reminded me of V.S.Naipul's recent outrageous statement on literature written by women. Maybe Mr.Naipul must take a sharper look at the bullshit people he shares similar genitalia with are writing, before commenting on sentimentality. 

Now he is standing up for the youth by protesting the new drinking law on Twitter. Yes, that will help, Mr.Bhagat. Twitter will save the youth. Unless of course, you can use Twitter the way the people in Libya and Yemen did, which I am very sure it won't.

His attempt at representing the youth, their wants, desires, likes, dislikes, rights and opinions is just a way for bumbling Mr.B to legitimize his work. I am convinced of the fact that his 'saviour of the masses' persona is the only way he can align himself to popular sentiment, stay relevant and sell, sell, sell.

Please. I beg. I plead.

More than anything, I REFUSE to accept Chetan Bhagat as a representative of the youth.

"The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones."

Joseph Joubert

I'd Happily Talk About Nothing, Just Sit Back And Listen :)

"You see, idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit, is very exciting. It's very real. It's very strong."

                                                                                                                                          - Bono

"The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first."
          -Jim Morrison

"Most people gaze neither into the past nor the future; they explore neither truth nor lies. They gaze at the television." 

                 -Radiohead

End Child Labour: It's Time To Stop Being A Silent Witness.

It's 12th June.
And no, it isn't your poodle's birthday.

I could throw out a bunch of statistics and facts at you right now, regarding children who don't get the chance to be educated.
I could put one of many millions of images of children in waterlogged slums, in shoe-polish factories and cotton industries around the world.
I could share with you how at the tender age of 11, a little boy has already had a career as a miner.
I could start off with a well-meaning quote from a celebrity to put an end to child labour.

There is much more eloquent prose on the subject on the internet, than you can ever expect to read on this blog. That does not stop me from talking about it.
Because unless one talks, one can never be heard.

An issue like child labour can be completely eradicated in a country like India if every person does one simple thing: stop feigning ignorance of the reality you see around you.
Stop ignoring little Chotu who brings you your tea at the roadside dhaba.
Stop acting like you don't see the little child who carries clothes heavier than his own body weight as your presswala.
That's all I ask.

We write off many experiences in life as 'the price to pay' for our given status.
Being lonely at the top. Being harassed on the streets if you wear a short skirt. Being chided for coming out of the closet. Being married off when you're just 14. Being made an errand boy at age 7.
Question this self-anointed price tag.

Drench yourself in the puddle of reality, rather than choosing the comfort of the pavement and umbrella.
As of today, there are 10 million children in India that work rather than study, that battle intense pangs of hunger and thirst  than struggle over simple division, that dance in the rain with no warm place to go back to.
The children are not the problem, but the solution.
That's 10 million solutions.
Simple mathematics.

When friends ask me why I choose to go into slums with open, overflowing gutters to talk to children for a school enrollment campaign, and look at me as if I'm insane- I just smile. Because I'm too busy envisioning a world with no poverty and children happily going to schools every single day. That's not my bold idealism talking, it's a reality we can all create if we choose to. In fact, it is imperative that we do.

Happy Anti Child Labour Day.