Kala Ghoda Festival :)

I went to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival finally ! I was almost scared that I would miss it for this year and would have to wait an year more just to be a part of that fun...
It was beautiful...it reminded me of why i do really love mumbai..being in and around andheri all the time kind of dulls your memory of the true city that is waiting to have you back :)

I went to town yesterday after sooo long ! Its unbelievable but once I went it was like I was there yesterday...the bhelwala near the subway entrance has shifted though
I got off before Kala Ghoda and walked the last few meters. It was crowded but then it was saturday and it was the penultimate day of the KGF !! so sab maaf...

The two arches welcomed me to a riot of colors and works...soo random and sooo nice..totally loved it..
I bought a phirkhi and bought bubbles too...the breeze was just right and the evening was setting in..
I would have loved to share the moment with someone special just then and there but then its ok..I am perfectly enjoyable company and I had the privilege of enjoying it yesterday..

It was soo much fun..it gave a sense of beyond..a life beyond andheri, b-school and a whole lot more..such freedom such art..there was this adorable kid who asked "if it is so much and everyone is so happy..why can't we have it round the year all the time? " so logical and correct..but then as my friend rightly pointed out irrespective of how much money the Times Group really makes..its kind of pushing it to expect them to run something like this throughout the year... :)

I didnt go for any movie or play...I just walked around..soaked in the stalls, the very random artworks (the addiction theme was really cool)..saw people enjoyin themselves..saw my phirkhi spin away to happiness and the super awesome apples hanging from the trees !!

Took a few pictures of the fest...here have a look

I don't understand...

1) Mom's who urge their kids to pee faster just because papa wait kar rahen hain
2) Professors who author books and then say " I guess it says....so because..well...umm..." when asked a doubt
3) Vodafone spending obscene amounts on red hoardings by selling a few of their network towers
4) Jaya taking offense on being asked to clean the bathroom (after a bakshish of Rs. 10 and a pair of sequined chappals)
5) Literate people with 27 items in their cart standing at a billing counter meant for "LESS THAN 10 ITEMS ONLY"
6) Autos with golden glitter seats and enough music equipment for the New Year's eve.

you know your life isn't the same when...

1) You compare the food you get in the PG to that in the mess and miss the mess...
2) You feel bad that the cable guy stopped playing the movie Heyy Babyy somewhere mid-way
3) You vigorously discuss the roundness of the chapatti and argue about the level of salt in the arhar ki dal
4) You know how much Ambardhara scored in their Math test...
5) For that matter you know which Ambardhara I am talking about...
6) You check if All-Out is glowing to know if there is a power cut
7) You see traffic on National Highway heading your way and you are in a cycle-rickshaw

emancipated woman

let us begin with an assumption that the world would be a better place if only each person be it a man or a woman is allowed to live with whatever dignity he or she has.
this post is not stemming as much from rationality as much as anger.
You know one keeps hearing things like arre delhi unsafe place hai yaar...arre gurgaon ki to baat hi mat karo...tsk tsk bilkul safe nahi hai ladkiyon ke liye...

My anger is not as much towards those lecherous bastards or those f***ing morons who talk to your chest or those who think you are as dense as a block of ice that you wouldn't realise that they are pushing themselves at you or that "sorry madam galti se lag gaya" does not happen 3 times in a row in a non-crowded queue.
But its more towards this line of conversation i had...

Me: you know what happened today, there were four boys who came in a Scorpio and spoke absolute filth today morning at 8 a.m while I was waiting for a cab....who on earth would have thought at 8 a.m there are a bunch of ass***** who drive around doing this !
Other person: yea i know....but what were you wearing ?

Now my point is....how does it matter...no i am not on one of those tirades which go on about how a woman should be able to wear NOTHING and not be judged ya da ya da...but cmon..to assume that every such incident is under the woman's control and also that you bring trouble onto yourself by attracting attention by what you wear..is just plain sickening...I do not understand how reflexively that reaction of "what were you wearing" came about...its like some presumption of "you must have done SOMETHING...or else why would 4 boys just come and speak filth" yes of course it has nothing to do with the fact that these are truly sick people who probably should be hung by their toenails and have their hands dipped in hot oil and each finger nail plucked out...but no...surely you must have done something worthy enough to deserve this kind of attention...

moving on with the conversation..
Me: huh ?! what was I wearing ?! chuck it...anyways as I was saying, I then went to a nearby security guard (about 50 years old, was riding his cycle) and complained about the 4 boys...he said "arre madam...yeh to roz marra ki zindagi mein hota rehta hai...aap sentimental mat ho jaaiye"
Other person: tsk tsk tsk *tongue clicking sadly* hmmm...yea what can that poor guy also do...he has a cycle and he is so old.. he must be knowing those guys are obscenely rich and would buy him out for his weight in gold...bechara...but being a girl you should toughen up and get used to all this...

now you tell me how does toughening up mean taking crap like this and not reacting...why am i not strong if i react ? or me being calm saying haan yeh to hamesha hota hai...make it any less wrong than what it is...why should I or for that matter anyone get used it...how is it that you can its ok....how can it not anger you when someone invades your personal space, looks at you as if you are nothing more than a fresh slivered slice of meat...
why should you accept something that turns your stomach inside out as you feel violated? to be called strong ?!!??!

You are a strong person when you face the problem head-on and make sure it is taken care of..but are you a strong person when you become indifferent to the fact that you are somewhat like a candy store that either people keep staring at or try getting free samples of...?!
If being numb, being passive is being strong...then whoever said that go f*** himself....

Irrespective of how many times it has happened before or how many times it will happen in the future...i will get angry and i will react sharply...and thats how it shall be...it does not mean I am weak and I am whining...it means I am alive enough to be angry and thoroughly disgusted rather being a mere passive spectator of my own life

No boundaries - Happy 60th

Road under construction

At some point in everyone's life there have been things one wants real bad. The want gets to a point where existence seems pointless if not achieved. It could be a phantom cigarette at the age of 5 so that you could go to the neighbor's kid and pretend to puff smoke on to his face or it could be the only cycle that could possibly give you the riding experience like none another.
As time moves on you realise maybe just maybe it didn't matter so much after all. This has nothing to do with you having got that peppermint wannabe cigarette or not. Its just that once you move on further in life you realise that there are a few things you would never know if they mattered so much afterall.

I am not saying its wrong to want something badly. I personally think its wonderful that there is something in your life that drives you to such lengths. The adrenalin rush and the passion to get something so bad is something i cannot phathom beyond a point. I sometimes wonder if I even care and if I don't what would make me...I wish to share the sense of mission that a few people I know share, the zeal to get something somewhere. I admire such people and loathe dream snatchers.

I do believe that we have been led to think that the occurrence of an event or the lack of it would alter the essence of the life we had planned for. 10th grade exams, 12th HSC exams, the medical and engineering entrance exams, the CAT GRE and so on...If you haven't realised there has always been an ultimatum of "if you don't then....."

I completely understand when people say to get to what I want I need to go through this entire rigmarole. I went through it as well. I was told if you don't get 90% in 10th you won't get into science. If you don't get into science how will you write the medical entrance, if you don't write the medical entrance obviously you don't get to become a doctor (hope not!)

I have seen enough people i know who constantly manage to live up to these conditions and are doing well for themselves. They are proud people and rightfully so because they got what they thought they wanted.
But there are people on whom life threw surprises. They aren't doing quite as badly for themselves. And no this is not a "its an honor to be just nominated" kinda speech. Its just that during the short course of 22 years I have come to believe that there is something bigger (no...not GOD and not the divine force or any such thing) that takes its course. Somehow there is a road paved as we go along. Its not been made for you. You make it as you go along. Again I don't even know if I am making sense because probably for some people the defined milestones make the road. Nothing more nothing less.

There are a few people whom I have very high regard for. They have always lived up to these yardsticks while being genuinely great people. Each of them deserve much more than a whole other bunch of people (if you ask me who am i to judge... well these are people who mean something to me and I will judge) I know at this very moment they are paving their roads forward but I do not know if they see it the same way. For their sake and mine I do hope they realise it because sometimes just sometimes...what you want and what you get are two very different things. But then who is to tell if what you wanted to begin with would let you go down this road you are paving for yourself which is what your future holds.

Its not destiny..its not a calling... its what you make it to be....and there is always Karma which will make sure it gets its work done.

its a crowded room
people swarming
there is noise
no words
laughter but no cheer

there are people
yet lonliness blankets
there is a buzz
yet silence rules

eyes wander
do not rest on anyone
lacking nothing
yet impoverished

what a moment
what an hour
what a day
what a life

looking
searching
finding
losing.....
looking ?