VIRTUAL INSANITY

Solitude

2011-07-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Solitude

Ahh that solitude
The most understated form of bliss
A sudden sense of ease
The moment of true release
Mind and body at peace
Cramped limbs suddenly being able to breathe
Our very own time to cherish "I"

“Fast food frenzy”

2009-11-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching a documentary film called “Super Size me.” Pretty plainly as Wikipedia summarizes it “ the film follows a 30-day time period (February to beginning of March 2003) during which the filmmaker eats only McDonald's food. The film documents his lifestyle's drastic effects on his physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit.”

So the filmmaker survives on 3 meals of Mcdonalds everyday and realizes a few notable things like the following.

FAST FOOD ADDICTION
Fast food is terribly addictive and one gets easily hooked to it and then in a while you star craving it. And then your mind is preoccupied with the consumption of it and directly necessitates its consumption as an essential. And then somehow a correlation is built up between happiness and binging on fast food.

The symptoms of lethargy and a feeling of perpetual tiredness is perhaps what most of our generation who feasts on fast food suffer from as well. We had an interesting diet workshop from this dietician called Anju Venkat during college last year (2008). Her logic was pretty simple, avoid food that makes you feel heavy, which is what fast food epitomizes in any case. So eating stuff like vegetable and fruits keeps you feeling light and fresh and hence, enhances the body’s energy quotient as well whereas the heavy cheesy pizzas, pastas and burgers end up making us feel unnaturally heavy and full.

He also highlights that they seem to stock apparently healthy food items but are they actually what they proclaim? Have you spotted a nutrient chart in any of the ubiquitous Mcdonads outlets. The filmmaker struggled to find one too and a couple that he found had to be retrived by the Mcdonalds managers from the basements.

He also points out that salad’s available with heavy salad dressing actually contain much more calories than a regular burger. As a result, of this diet he gained 24½ lbs. a 13% body mass increase, a cholesterol level of 230, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation to his liver. It took him fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment.

I had also earlier read the Fast food Nation (P Sainath’s recommendation) - The Dark Side of the All-American Meal which highlighted how the fast food industry was just virulently spreading the world over. Also, how the industry uses advertising and plenty of other ways to attract people with extensive marketing.

-Most schoolchildren in America, consumed fries for lunch
- A survey found that half of the nation's 9 and 10 year olds thought that Ronald McDonald knew what kids should eat

Haven’t you ever wondered why these corporations don’t sell healthy food? When they can easily make so much money by selling packaged food then why should they bother? And they cannot possibly make money by selling perishable yet healthy vegetables and fruits. And how hard is it to cook our own food. Eating out is not just expensive, but also fat laden and we all know that packaged foods are much worse with their Trans fat. Time to consciously discern and eat, don't you think.

Trouble for Twittertharoor

2009-09-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, what a row! (couldn't resist plagiarizing this retort from the Times of India editorial)

Well, have you ever wondered why so many Bollywood movies seem to associate so much “romanticism” with train travel whereas there is none associated with “flying.” (At least as far as I can recall) I recall this rather old movie called “Pyaar to Hona Hi tha” were Kajol who was the protagonist settled in America had to fly to India to meet her philandering partner but dreaded taking a flight but somehow managed to bear the journey .

My point here is pretty simple…Traveling by flight is indeed the fastest means of transport but traveling economy is rather uncomfortable, with its claustrophobic seating. It’s almost like we’re just thrust in all together, doesn’t that resonate with Tharoor’s “in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!” which has caused so much uproar.”

Shashi Tharoor sadly definitely seems to have realized the trouble of figurative language...

He has clarified further in his subsequent tweet, “it's a silly expression but means no disrespect to economy travelers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle. Many have misunderstood”

I have been following Shashi Tharoor for a long time on my twitter account now. I enjoy reading his witty repertoire which in twitter terminology called tweets are characteristically layered with humor and pun.

The entire episode makes me wonder, is faking austerity over comfort now a new popular way to authenticate simplicity? Are politicians disallowed individuality? Is a politician connecting with his audience and his discretion in light punning deserve so much attention?

ShashiTharoor in his later post added “i now realize i shldnt assume people will appreciate humor. &u shouldn't give those who wld wilfully distort yr words an opportunity to do so” Do we really want to stay disconnected from our politicians?

In the end, his son Ishaan tharoor, seems to have sarcastically summarized the hullabaloo over a non issue pretty well in his post “: nice to see the uproar over the uproar #holycow, though i doubt those who ought to feel chastened by their pettiness will be”

Indeed, very apparent is the disconnect between the virtual and the world at large with his own party condemning his “deviant” ways.

Krap aaj kal

2009-08-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

I am actually a big fan of Imityaz Ali’s previous movies… Jab we met was a delightfully witty romantic affair and Socha Na Tha had its delicate moments too both which were seriously lacking in Love aaj Kal. Notably, since he belongs to the young thinking breed of directors.

The storyline seemed more apt to fit a blog post particularly due to the lackluster script with its no brainer dialogues. DevD in comparison which loosely explored the concept love in Gen Y scored way over for several reasons: fantastic and apt music, wonderful acting and innovative camera work and editing.

To conclude, as a friend mentioned it seemed like yet another movie churned out from the Yashaj industry and yet it is not. The movie also surprisingly received rave reviews in the press, something amiss here?

400 blows

2009-04-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

I cannot but help love Francois Truffaut’s French film 400 blows. It’s the first time that I’ve seen the period of adolescence depicted so sensitively.

“Adolescent is a specific condition that is recognized as such by educators and sociologists but that was for a long time, ignored by immediate family… During this stage, a simple disturbance or upset, can sparkle a revolt and this crisis is called adolescent rebellion” Truffaut

It makes me recall my own childhood memories, more often that, all I wanted was to be free, to make my own decisions, be independent and live in a word filled with love. Yet, I found myself unable to grapple with so much back then. The constant need to belong somewhere was much stronger than anything else, to conform, to please and yet rebel.

“When I was thirteen I was so desperately anxious to grow up quickly so that I might misbehave with impunity.” Truffaut

At 21, I find my battles which were huge then , absolutely insignificant now. But then again I can’t help but symphatise.

Do watch 400 blows, a beautiful film on a relatively unusual subject, unexplored period of adolescence in a child’s life.

Couching politcs with Miss glam sham

2008-11-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

While browsing through News channels, i caught something interesting. A glamorous, fairly familiar face interviewing Sachin Pilot. A closer look revealed that it was Koel Purie in coversation with Sachin Pilot in a setting that looked like an odd set, a red couch in a rural set with villagers and cows hovering around .

That roused my curiosity, dressed way too glamorously to be taken seriously, I mentally dismissed the entire interview ( the ensemble was almost a replica of Koffee with Karan) and wondered what she would actually ask the young verbose politician. I tuned in probably mid-way through the show, where she was asking him some personal question about the nuances of his marriage to Sara Abdullah, where he blushed and mumbled something about how though Faroque Abdullah might not be close enough to be the father figure the love they share is unanimously linked to their love for Sara. Before, the commercial break she did reveal that they were in the hot and humid natural setting of Pilot's ancestral village.
Again, Koel moved on to play in true Karan Johar style I'll spout rapid questions that the guest must answer (rapid fire question round). They were actually more interesting than I predicted as it gave one a peek into the personality of the man, the humility of the man . He confessed that a bad quality that he believed he possessed was his inabiliy to say a straight No and described himself as a sort of this sort of wishy washy person. Also, to her credit she did manage to elicit very personal responses about his own personal ambitions where Pilot did admit that he did have a long way to go and that he really hasnt been able to achieve anything substantial as yet.
Also, later the recent norm of comparing any idealistic young leader to be the next Barack Obama was made. Koel Purie as the interviewer didnt taclke his political ideologies as say Karan Thapar might in Devil's Advocate but she did manage to give us a glimpse into the personal charecteritics that shape the decisions of the engigmatic leader.But, Sachin Pilot's comfort with the surroundings inspite of the heat and the buzzing flies coupled with his responses did reveal a striving modest young leader.

Bewildering BMC

2008-08-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

I confess I’ve tried really hard to understand the developmental measures of the BMC.
And now I’ve frankly given up. Their new campaign is fairly interesting. The move to make Mumbai wi-fi enabled. Personally, it benefits me immensely. I would love to kill further time with my laptop in our wonderful coffee shops sprung all over the city.
However even with various security concerns, the BMC still seems to be pushing the “cause”. And one hears them perpetually complaining about lack of funds and time. Ignoring various civic and security concerns that the city of Mumbai faces their attention seems to be to get free wireless connection available to all its inhabitants.

limericking~

2008-08-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

Our beloved P.M,Manmohan Singh
Open horsetrading, could he be the Sin-king?
India shining
Inflation sky rocketing
Possible Dalit woman P.M , fantastic development
With disproportionate assets, an ethical lament?
Former Chief Justice, accused of corruption
Surely a case of pure moral erosion

musing

2008-08-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

I just managed to finally catch 15 Park Avenue. It’s definitely one of the most touching movies I’ve ever seen. Konkana Sen Sharma and the rest of the cast were fantastic. . It’s more than just a noir movie.
That brings me back to some thoughts. What exactly is madness? Can It be defined? Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die had an interesting tale.
A powerful wizard, who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the well from which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drinks that water would go mad.
"The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, which the magician had not managed to poison. The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health. The policemen and inspectors, however, had also drunk the poisoned water, and they thought the king's decisions were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them.
"When the inhabitants of the kingdom heard these decrees, they became convinced that the king had gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. They marched on the castle and called for his abdication.
"In despair the king prepared to step down from the throne, but the queen stopped him, saying 'Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then we will be the same as them.'
"And that was what they did: The king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense. Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country?
"The country continued to live in peace, although its inhabitants behaved very differently from those of its neighbors. And the king was able to govern until the end of his days."
It's as simple as what is reality? if your reality is not what the world understands then does it make it less real? Aerent we all creating atleast to some extent deluding ourselves? Duplicity somehow seems to be an integral part of human life.

Witty advertising

2008-07-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

As Indians, we typically like to pride ourselves as an intensely " news concious" and as a generally "aware " bunch.So, whats the best way to check if you've zoned out and are off-track with the current affairs and generally relevant things? Check out the Amul Hoardings around the city which are constantly updated. They parody whatever it is which is " the flavor of the moment." They are subtle, witty, informative and an extremely effective way of advertising and really the clincher being the fact that they viewer is attributed to possess atleast some amount of inherent intelligence.

2008-07-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

So, finally the CBI seems to have resolved the famous Aarushi Talwar case. The amount of arbitrary speculation that the case has generated is mindboggling. According the CBI the murder was hatched by the servant and the prior accused father of the girl was acquitted. The police and the media happily played around with the family and circulated completely slanderous statements which were horrific. The matter now resolved I Hope the family recovers from the immense grief and emotional turmoil that it was forced to go through.

Just a thought, its strange how the Delhi "horrific "cases seem to be really singled out by the media. Bombay has had its share of alarming murder cases too but none of them seem to be blown out of proportion( on a strictly relative basis ) like the Delhi ones with numerous prayer meetings organised and other such gatherings to offer their solidarity.

Impulsivity

2008-05-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

Wild emotion
Loss of caution
That hazardous rush
And adolscent flush
Loss of rationale
Possibly even some conventional morale
The unfathomable ache
Retrospective double-take
It is this unexplainable aura
And abandonment of reason
Almost semi-conscious trauma
Disbelieving action
Tempestuous rage, livid with strife
Nonetheless, the turbulent essence of life

The disillusionment

2008-03-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

The prologue
Literature no longer remains elite
Loss of exclusivity
Fashion no longer remains elite
Mass appeal fetches revenue
In the era of ‘dog eat dog’ “flattening”
Theatre is absurd
Cinema – nonsense escapism
Television static
Art – meaningless abstraction
Modern music-reflection of degeneration
Consequence- desensitization, passivity
Hope- retrospection albeit slight

The Dormant

2008-03-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

I feel like a dormant mat
Imbued by the state of passivity
Lethargic thoughts confound me, like a vulture
Circling his prey with intensity
But, then I retreat into my world of folk and fair
Where I’m not just another dead old rat

Transcending gender et al~

2008-03-08T01:33:00.000-08:00

So, today is International Woman’s day. Though, I do not really believe in celebrating such ‘day’ phenomenons I think it is an acknowledgement that the ‘equality’ pursued is as yet elusive.
Besides, as a student of literature who studies in a girl’s college. It is easy for me to be dismissed off as a feminist and as a part of my course we do study feminism rather extensively. But feminism is much more than that. As any other movement, feminism includes various schools of thought. And contrary to popular belief, all feminists do not seek a “MALELESS world”, it is only a section of the radical feminists who do so. Furthermore, like other movements it does have strong political inclinations. But, the larger issue addressed by various schools is the ‘oppression’ of women and the inherent ‘patriarchal system.’
The problem with feminism as I see it is that there is some amount of ambivalence in the demands of equality made. Though, women want to be equal, they still want to have privileges associated with being a woman and at times the resolutions made are impossible to attain.
But is ‘equality’ really such an issue? Can there be really such a concept in two genders which are biologically different. Must not peaceful co-existence be the larger issue?
As a girl, I am privileged with education in an urban city but the core problem is that it is the ‘underprivileged lot’ who are exploited and face the brunt of the oppression.
Further, in patriarchy, the women serve as the negative image of man, his complement, she is the representation of all the traits that he cannot see in himself yet cannot as a human being live without. In patriarchal terms, as a man must flee from the Venus principle within himself, as he must hold that configuration in contempt, so he must hold women in contempt as well. For under patriarchy she is the incarnation of Venus and nothing else. The outcome of the arrangement for man is ambivalence. He is both the drawn to and repelled by women. Although, she is love, tenderness, passion, beauty and pleasure, she is also fashioned by hum, the composite of why these traits must be banned for men she is associated with being weak, emotional, dependent, imprudent, incompetent, fearful and undependable. Economically, politically, psychologically, and biologically, it is the foundation on which the entire structure rests.
Patriarchy does present a dichotomy of thought for ‘man’ as well. The popularity of ‘the bad boy’ ‘macho man’ ‘James Bond phenomena’ is a good testimony of that. In patriarchal terms man is supposed to ‘macho’ and ‘sexually frivolous’ yet supposed to be able to successfully maintain a family. Also, the pressure to make a high end living to be able to ‘maintain’ a woman is insurmountable.
Social institutions like marriage, the existing law and even religion are deliberately skewed against women. A friend analysed the representation of woman in the Bible through which she exposes the subordination of woman in the Hebrew bible.
The bible begins with two stories of the creation. In the first account of the origin of human beings, both male and female are created simultaneously, and are equals. The male here, is Adam, and the female, by many, is believed to be Lilith. Lilith is known as one of the most notorious demons in Judaism. Lilith, meaning “the night,” personifies the spiritual and emotional aspects of the night: sensuality, terror, and rampant freedom. She is the demon responsible for the death of infants in their first eight days. It is also said that she seduces men, gets herself fertilized and gives birth to more demons. As per a Midrash (an explanation of the Bible), Lilith, created like Adam, from the dust of the earth, is an equal unlike Eve. She refuses to be pushed around by Adam, and when he tries to force her to “lie beneath him”, she utters the Divine name and flees. Adam, in dislike of his loneliness, prays to God who sends three angels to bring her back. Lilith is given the choice of going back or being made into a demon, and she chooses being made into a demon over being subjugated by Adam, and sends the angels back. This is when God makes Eve. Eve is merely a submissive subsidiary, and follows Adam. There is a Midrash that talks about Eve’s excitement and curiosity when she sees another female counterpart, but on asking Adam about Lilith, he explains her as a demon and asks Eve to keep away from Lilith. Eve secretly meets Lilith, and sees that there is nothing demonic about her, and that she is a lot like herself. Eve and Lilith become friends and their friendship is said to be the cause of independent ideas in Eve.In the Bible, women continued to be portrayed as the property of men. Biblical legislation, in general, assumes a woman’s subordination to the dominant male in her life: father, before being married, and husband after being married. The woman’s sexuality is controlled by this man, and he has the right to challenge her virginity and her marital faithfulness.
But with all of this, and the push for women empowerment and emancipation etc our law has finally adopted some provisions albeit slightly discriminatory to protect woman. The Domestic Violence ACT 2006 was extremely significant for women. The Act covers abuse or threat of abuse, whether physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic. While the act provides yet another provision for a woman with ulterior motives to initiate criminal proceedings against the husband, a major loophole in the Act is its Section 14(5). The section reads that the respondents shall not be allowed to plead any counter justification for the alleged act of domestic violence, a clear flouting of Human Rights.
Further, Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) perceives a consensual sexual intercourse between a man, married or unmarried, and a married woman without the consent or connivance of her husband as an offence of "adultery". A sexual link between a married or unmarried man and an unmarried woman or a divorcee or a widow, therefore, does not come within the ambit of "adultery". It also holds the man and not the (adulteress) "wife" of another man, who has been unfaithful to her husband, solely responsible for the sexual liaison. IPC, it seems, views "adultery" as an invasion of the right of the husband over his wife. The law, is not only based on the husband's right to fidelity of his "wife" but also treats "wife" merely as a chattel of her husband. A Smart married woman perhaps even with the aid of her husband can successfully entrap a married man and even resort turn to blackmail.
Though, I believe the push for women emancipation of men is important false entrapment of men cannot be justified. Women are not so angelic after all . As Madonna hums along “And I am a material girl. You know that we are living in a material worldAnd I am a material girl.”

Blurriness

2008-02-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

I am, but infested with a clouded mind
full of streaming ideas that oscillate
and wideranging thoughts that fluctuate
shall i attribute it to the frenzied grind
or plain youthful idealisms flight?
Now, what i really yearn for
is that elusive ray of light

2007-03-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Word stuck in my head: 'bewilderment'...uh...huh...
currently reading: mayada; daughter of iraq
song of the moment: hey jude
i got access to a series of books on the predicament of people in the middle east through anindita. i've read four of them two explicitly highlighting the subjugation of women in saudia arabia narrated by a royal princess of saudi. it definitely makes a fascinating piece of reading. The books were was shocking, moving were full of elaborate sex and rape narrations. We were terrorized and the horrors still lay strong in our minds by the second book, the horrific incidents didn’t shock me as much desensitization..eh…. These books have gone on to become bestsellers. I just read mayada: a book about one woman’s survival in Saddam Hussein’s torture jail. It gives us a peek into iraq during saddam’s reign.
Leaders make interesting people and Saddam was an autocratic authoritarian. Apart from all the inhuman activities he encouraged, certain interesting aspects to him I thought i'd put forth. He was a romantic. He encouraged romantic writings by journalists.He was a man who loved clothes and appreciated the finer things in life. He changed designer suits five times a day. He was more like a village boy who was previously deprived but now found himself in a position to buy a house of fashion if he so desired. Unlike his other cousins, he was well mannered and made an attempt to be cultured. The inhuman activities carried out by his followers were unimaginable, horrendous and it’d still be a euphemistic way of describing it.
In any case, the whole idea of democracy as the best form of government has perpetually interested me. If an dictator is an altruist, benevolent man then it’d be the ideal scenario for the nation via unilateral decisions to make faster economic growth but it’ll probably be an idealistic situation most dictators are invariably autocratic. Democracy in that sense is the safer path as it’s been said democracy might not be the best form of government but the only possible form of govrenment
The inhuman activities carried out by his followers were unimaginable, horrendous and it’d still be a euphemistic way of describing it. In addition,these books also explicitly narrate various sexual escapades of the heavily patriarchal men. Anyway, Miriam was horrified that well, good bookstores like crossword had them under the ‘non-fiction section'. Her reasoning entertaining make popular reading especially as ‘sex sells’. Anyway was shocked to read that some countries have decided to adopt them in their syllabuses as they apparently promote women emancipation.

Desensitization by the media is a valid argument. On course, I realized that the atrocities and ostracization failed to effect as much. More often than not, the world knows, yet they choose to ignore.

the departure

2007-03-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

THE DEPARTURE
The memories form a whirlpool in my head
your thoughts beckon
The time keeps ticking
The countdown to your departure has begun.

From our last meeting,
The dichotomy of our lives
stood apparent.
you’ve been for some time now
The focal point of my life
And my existence
Peripheral in yours.