It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas

It's was one of those evenings, where you just want to hot cuppa of coffee in one hand, and the other with a favourite book and just spending the evening, watching the sunset. Across the park was the row of shops with those cute chrismsy decorations. My mind was in a certain mood to observe my fellow bystanders, to be a wallflower if you must call it. I watched as people were frantically frolicking to these shops for forgotten or maybe last minute Christmas shopping for their loved and dear ones. Maybe a doll, a toy car, a piece of jewellery etc. After all, it is the season of giving gifts, in all it's jittery glory. As I felt the coldness of the winter the moment the sun kisses the horizon, almost as if it was giving us a chance to soak up it's last  rays for the day. Goosebumps arise on the skin of my arms and I tug my sweater a little closer, trying to preserve my body heat. By a fleeting moment, my eye catches the sight of a young boy, dressed in hoodie and cargo pants. His face is dirty, no, not in the physical sense, but as if he is annoyed, guilty almost, like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. He wouldn't be more than 8 years but his eyes held a sense of maturity, which I was a little perturbed by. I don't know how or when but I found myself standing in front of the boy staring down on him as he fiddled with this fingers.

"Hi boy, what your name?" I asked. "The name is Dave, Madame." I was pleased with his civility and manners and decided to make small talk with this young man. "So what's a young boy like you doing here? Isn't  your family looking for you?" He just strugged his defeated shoulders and with a far away look in his eyes, stared as the sun finally set and the darkness of the night draped on the evening sky. "I have a family of 9 Madame. 4 sisters and 3 bothers along with daddy and mummy. They don't know I'm here." 

 

"What is it boy? You looked distant." I asked. 

"Madame I come from a middle class family, where my elder sisters and parents are working all the time to make ends meet. What troubles me is that they are so busy, I think they have forgotten that Christmas is day after tomorrow. Our family isn't much into celebrating, but we always buy a Christmas tree. But this year, it's looks like everyone forgot about it. This makes me sad, cause I've being asking Santa to give my family and I a big Christmas celebration but I don't think he has been getting my letters." He said with a sigh. 

I was astounded to hear this. Celebrating  Christmas has always been one of foundest  memories of childhood. 

Offering him my hand, I said "Come on! Let's remind your family the joy of Christmas?" The boy with an enigmatic smile just simply smiled and helded my hand and dragged me behind an oak tree where I saw shabbily cut Christmas tree branches decorated with a bunch of shiny streamers. He looked at me and said "My hands are too small to carry them all. Can you help me carry this to my cycle?"  he asked with his big puppy dog eyes. 

My heart elated with love and adoration for the little boy as I helped him carry it to his cycle parked about 2 blocks away. "Thank you Madame, I hope you have the most wonderful Christmas and a new year. I hope Santa gets your letter and your stocking is filled with all your gifts." I just gave the boy a warm smile and just when I was going to depart, the little boy turned around and said "Oh and Madame? If you ever meet Santa? Can you tell him it's okay?" Perplexed with his request I gave him a questioning look to which he gave a gleeful laugh and said "Tell Santa that it's okay if he misplaced my letter. I'm not disppointed with him, I understand he has millions of other kids who aren't as lucky as me to give gifts to.   Tell him it's okay. It's okay Santa, I still love you." With a last smile and twinkle in this eyes, he rode away into the darkness. 

This, THIS is the meaning of Christmas. THIS is why I love this time of the year. ❤️

PS- Merry Christmas and happy new year to all you wonderful people out there ❤️ 😊

Stranger Danger?

As I stood waiting out on a hot humid day, hooting and whistling for a taxi to take me home, I realized my hopes were futile. Nobody was ready to take me home which was practically 3 kilometers away. The drivers too knew I was a local mumbaiker and was not the one to pay extra easily so chances of cheating were slim to none for them. Yes, I could have walked home if I wanted, but it very hot, humid with the afternoon soon beating on my back, sucking my energy out. I was just fired from my job and you could say I woke up on the wrong side of my bed. I wasn't exactly excited to go home and spread the news to my parents. Cussing at the taxi drivers I walked into a nearby meela (fair) to buy myself a goola (ice lolly). After paying for it I sat and watched as a silent bystander to observe my fellow humans. Seeing kids with their boyish grins while they ride the merry-go-round. Girls getting mehandi (tattoos) on their chubby fingers. Mothers frantically running around to control their sugar-rush high kids. In all, a typical meela. Right then, a man came and occupied the seat next to me. So I took the opportunity to scrutinized this man. He seemed to be in his mid-fifties. A perfectly kept French cut beard with almost balding hairline, a pretty fit body with hazel coloured eyes, and was a dusky complextion. He looked like a man who was a heart breaker in his golden years. When suddenly he locked eyes with me. Embarrassed I looked away, when he just smiled and said "Good afternoon!" I tried to force a smile and greet him back but my body tired from the days events, I failed miserably. He noticed and just gave a warm smile, which made me guard myself. Then he just said "Smile little girl, the world is too full on frowns. It seems as if you have a really nice smile." Hearing this I was baffled and almost was going to pick up my purse and flee from there but his eyes held me back. There was a hidden sadness in them. As if he knew I was on the run, he shrugged his shoulder looks at me and said "I wasn't being creepy. I just wanted to see a real full-blown smile. I haven't seen one in a long long time and my heart aches that people don't smile that often. It's a rare sight now days and for some reason I have a feeling you have a real pretty smile."

Creeper or not, it was nice to hear a compliment, so I just though 'Oh what the hell' and just gave him a small smile and stood up to walk away, when he surprised me with muttering a "Thanks." and walked away. 

I finally finished my goola and caught a taxi and went home. My phone was blaring up with calls from my friends, parents, all probably trying to talk to me to cheer me up. But when I was brushing my teeth, I noticed that the man was right. I did have a nice smile. Not to sound narcissistic, but I do and for some reason that lifted my mood and for the rest of the day, I had a small smile on my face. 

Such strange meetings, with strange people at unexpected moments just somehow manage to play an important role in your life, a small, but nevertheless important. This stranger made me proud of my smile and remind me, that fall in love with yourself first. If you don't love yourself, how you do expect others too? 

PS - sorry for the late and irregular blogging. I'm have a masters degree at procrastination. 

Little Things in Life.

Topic of Discussion: Little things in life.
At this supersonic fast paced life that we live in, it's hard to slow down for a moment and just look at the clouds or just even take a deep breathe to just let go of all you worries, just for a moment. I mean its really not any one's fault. Its a dog eat dog world and time is money. So can you really expect people to let lose, even if its for a moment? I think you can, because if you don't; the internal pressure just keeps building and you're bound to crack and destroy everything in your path at that point of time. Maybe you don't have the luxury to take a few days off just to relax and let go, like some people do. But that doesn't mean you can't let your hair down. Learn to enjoy the little things in life. Trust me, its these tiny unseen pleasures that make all the difference in your world.
When it seems as if the world has yet again taken you for a ride, only to be kick-out just before the finish line. Its heartbreaking. You are still finding a firm ground to stand on, is when you realize the importance of these little things like; reading a good book, watching kids run around in the playground, listening to your favorite album, or even just binge eating on fatty foods. They all might seem pretty lame things to feel so happy about and that's okay.

Just the other day, taking an off from my studies, I picked up this book called: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. Its about a girl suffering from cancer  and you get a glimpse to how such kids see the world when they know their deadline. Its pretty darn good. While we live in fear of the unknown, that is when we are gonna die; while these kids know their expiry date and actually live life to the fullest. Like we all should be living. All because these kids don't waste their time crying about the things they don't have or what could be, they take things as they journey through their limited lifetime. Its sad really, we as perfect normal healthy people need to learn the art of living life like it should be lived from a dying kid. Its all a matter of perspective, mind over matter. One of my favorite quotes is by the protagonist's love interest-Augustus Waters: "I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend." 

So you've had a crappy day? The worst day of your life when you feel like you've hit rock bottom and it seems like there's nothing you can do? Just take a breathe and look around, remember a time when you were happy, try to relive it. Look around at the clouds passing over your head, look at the beauty all around. Beauty is what you find pleasing and its a contextual term. I may think beauty is seeing a dog wag its tail when you pet it, or seeing your favorite film all over again remembering all the lines. Beauty and happiness go hand in hand. So my readers, I implore you to let lose once in a while and enjoy the little things in life. 

PS- Read The Fault In our Stars, I'm sure you will not be disappointed. It's a fresh and simple with a coat of humor. :) 

Who is thy fairest of them all?

Today's topic of discussion: The concept of 'gora' and 'kala'. I'm an Indian girl with dusky complexion and not to mention, a south Indian. In Indian society, the prejudice against a 'gora' or fair is considered to one of the top priorities or a tie breaker in some cases of matrimonial relationships.Yes, I'm NOT kidding. When men and women are looking for life partners, their basic need is to have a husband/wife of a fairer complexion. Fairness is equivalent to beauty, richness, superiority of a person. India spends almost 3000 corers of rupees on fairness creams and products; fair and lovely, Garnier, Vaseline, etc are minting corers money due to this prejudice. While they mint money, the native people are losing their self pride and self esteem, taking drastic measures to become "gora".
When my family and I meet people for the first time, after they scrutinize our appearances, they give us the benefit of doubt, and ask us again if we are sure that we are from South India! They seem flabbergasted at the mere idea that people from the south can be fair. My maternal side is very fair or "gora". So my sister has gone on my mother, making them both 'goras' while my dad and I are on a darker complexion or "kala". People ask us if my mother and sister use some special treatment to maintain such fairness and is so, to share their secrets with them. You can literally smell the air of desperateness that reeks out of them. Though I don't blame them. This society that we live in leads us to take such demeaning and pitiful measures. I have friends who rate people in terms of beauty with them being "gora" or not.
Even as kids, we've grown up seeing Disney princesses like Cinderella, Snow White etc who all are really fair. I mean Snow White's plot revolves around her being the "fairest of them all", in this very childhood fairytale fairness is being compared to beauty. As kids, we're told not to play outside in the sun too much as would get tanned and then nobody would want to make us their brides. I'm not exaggerating, I've been told this by my grandparents and elders.
Don't even get me started on these ridiculous advertisements where a darker skinned girl is denied a job or a higher position due to her skin tone, and suddenly she applies the product which turns her fair in a fortnight and she gets the job which she was previously denied. The mentality of the writer of such ad is too foolish to even comment on. How is ones capability related to one's skin tone? Even men are falling prey to such harsh norms of the stupidity of the society we live in. Now days men fairness creams are in fashion.
  Even though one of Shakespeare's most beautiful sonnets is dedicated to a dark-skinned women, in most of his plays, he refers to his female protagonists as fair and beautiful. In the dictionary of us Indians, beauty is a synonymy for fair.
Though I'm extremely delighted to hear that some campaigns here have started, specially "Dark is beautiful".
Its is after hearing about such campaigns', do I feel that make there is after all some hope in this society. That the girls of this generation can feel secure that there are people out their hiding and their silent cries of this discrimination or even racism based on this absurdness of skin colour. Someone is raising their voice, fighting for them, giving it all they have to change this ugly society and make it a better place for the future.

Entertainment: Does it really entertain?

Entertainment. The act of keeping an audience engrossed in something for the sake of enjoyment. But these days, entertainment has been taken to whole new level. For the good or bad? I like to think bad. I mean have you seen the utter crap that these so called creative mind's of these directors come up with? No story line, no good climax, no acting by these highly paid actors and actresses, no originality whatsoever. I mean its like watching headless chickens roam about the screen. You can literally breathe in the air of desperation to 'entertain' us. Do we really have to stoop down to such a level that cheap comments and voluptuous jokes are the only ways of refreshing our minds? It's so degrading and demeaning to watch such movies. I mean come on! Wouldn't you rather sit at home and like sleep than torturing yourself and wasting time watching this nonsense. To top it off the ridiculously high ticket prices and popcorn. I mean call me a Judge Jody, but the name, actor and the overall appeal of the movie poster is what I speculate before even thinking of watching a film. Like actors like Akshay Kumar, Salmaan Khan are known to make movie which appeal to the lower class audience which is in fact a large chunk of our mass. Their films are actually liked for this main purpose; the absolute over the top dramatic exaggeration. To the point that you want to literally shoot yourself in the foot, for the simple fact that is feels less painful than having to sit through the film. Most of the movie are made up of the protagonist and his lover running all over town like headless chickens and somehow they end up on the wrong side of bad people and then the totally dull-luster climax of the hero having some uncanny strength to fight off the villains, as though he's flipping pancakes for breakfast. Let's not forget the totally unnecessary and frustrating songs that pop up at any time. Seriously, sometime I feel my 7 year old cousin writes better stories than these directors. Their lack of creativity is alarming and originality has totally disappeared over the time.
But the worst sin these directors so is taking up a good book and making a pathetic attempt to live up to the beautifully written works of art. I mean, if you are making a film on a book; the least you could do is not change the plot of the book. The author must obviously written the book with much thought and you should respect his work. It's pitiful really.
Entertainment these days is  not entertainment but a sad attempt to seek our attention to waste our hard-earned money on such crappy films.

Faith

Faith. Dictionary meaning: b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust. 

Faith, a simple word. Your devotion, belief in something. It's so easy for us to find faith in lifeless statues of so called gods and deities, to put out whole trust and believe that in cause of trouble or desires, we join our hands and pray that's god helps us. I don't get it, if you yourself don't help yourself, how is god or anybody supposed to help you?  It's true when they say that 'God helps those who help themselves.' 

Can anybody really stand up right now, in this instant, at this moment with full confidence say that there is a god is that big blue sky. The most powerful man, who rules anything and everything that we know of, who is the ruler of this universe, the mightiest of all, the kindest, faultless, perfect person who the world ever knows of? Can you? Yes you! Can you really? Have you physically seen this person? Talked to him? Touched him? 

I know for a fact that nobody has and whoever claims he has is saying gibberish and we all are aware of it. 

God, religion, customs. All of this is made by man alone, for he lacks the self confidence to believe in himself, to have faith and to seek his inner god. I think everyone is born perfect, just like a god. But this errs, decisions, choices in his life make him human. 

Trust me, I know how hard it is to have that self confidence in oneself when your life's results have repeatedly disappointed you, life's failures, un-justness, accidents- all of these events in one life hampers faith in yourself. For example- I just have given my IIT preparations exams- like a mock test. Trust me, I've not studied this hard since for like forever. Throughout my schools days I'm used to studying late minutes and getting my marks, but for once in a long time I studied, and guess what? I got such low marks that my life pride and confidence was shattered. My ego was hurt and all I would do is secretly bawl my eyes out. Demeaning myself by putting myself down by calling myself  a failure, a loser. Harsh? Yes. But at that time, I did not have anybody else to blame but myself. My parents did not pressurize me at all, instead they were giving excuses on my behalf to make me feel better. I know, my parents are awesome but at the end of the day, it's still hurts. To build up that confidence is the hardest part of the process. To have faith, to believe in myself. Gradually I've accepted that I may not be the brightest of the lot, and I need to put in way more efforts than my fellow classmates, to change my pattern of studying. But hey, I promise you I'm getting there, to the day I'll feel proud of myself, of my marks and win back my confidence. I promise you, I do my best and give it my all. That's all that matters. It's just a bad day, not a bad life. So I'm going to pick myself right up, dust out the negativity and work harder. I know this 'god' will have to give me my much earned fruits now or later. That's not the point though, the point is to have faith, believe that good things will happen to you and remember to always help yourself and not depend on anybody else. At the end of it, it's your life. So have faith my friends, not in god, but in your inner goodness. 

Just another Pretty Face?

This world we live in, has billion souls, billions faces, some pretty, some plain, some big, some skinny. Everyone at least once in their life has wished to be good-looking, hey, its normal. its human nature, we always want something we never have, and if we do have it; we can't get enough of it. We want more, our desires get greedier.
Have you ever looked at a pretty girl and gone- 'Oh how I wish I was that good-looking. I would have the world begging at my knees.' Or for you boys, looked at a good looking guy and gone- 'I wish I was him. Girls would always flock around me.' We somehow have this mentality that good looking people have an easier life, things are complicated for them. Trust me, you and I can argue or debate about this all we want, but we both  know, deep inside however small; you have the feeling. Hey, I thought so too, so join the club. Albeit is there really a theory behind this statement or is this a prejudice of some people that has caught now to the world like the common cold?
Have you ever seen this stereotype? If a girl is beautiful, she isn't really considered to be clever or intelligent. Isn't this how the origin of the stereotype Blondie came from? Anyone who has a moment of foolishness, you will here the chime of this statement- "Oh, don't be such a Blondie!" Who came up with this theory that blondes' are dumb? Is there a scientific reason behind it? NO. One idiot starts the chain and the fools follow. What an absurd remark! Who has the right to decide how one's hair color depends on their intellectual level of their brain? God has given us all brains, isn't it up to us as to how we use them? It has nothing to do with this rubbish stereotypical statements.
If you're a beautiful girl, people will tell you not to worry about the future because your beauty will catch the eye of some rich idiot who will want to marry you and sorted scenes for your life. I get so frustrated when I hear such things. As it is being a woman in this diabolical Indian society is difficult, to add on this stupidity. If  a pretty girl fails in something in her life, the people around her will plant this non-sense of "She's just another pretty face with no brains. Beauty with no brains. Blonde'  Why don't people try to walk in their shoes before judging? I think the prettiest faces have gone through the worst pain. But this world doesn't understand that.It's just the way this world works. I've given up hope for this mentality to ever change.
All I can say to the girls and boys who can relate to this is that be strong. In times like these, you have no one but yourself to rely on, rekindle your self-confidence. Work harder, have faith and most importantly believe in yourself. If you don't, then who will? Make it happen, shock everyone of them. Its the best darn felling in the world, I assure you.  Make it clear to the world that you are NOT just a pretty face! You are so much MORE. 

Growing up

As a child, I used to look up to my older siblings and friends and just think 'I can't wait to grow old! Or how cool are grown ups? Not having to study, having money to eat all they want, buy the things they like!'

Can you blame me? I think every little kid wants to grow up fast, so they can make all their fantasies to come true, to not have to do homework and live without adult supervision. At least I sure did think that, and now? When I'm on the borderline of being an adult, all I wish for with all my heart, is go back to being a kid, where the hardest choice of picking the right crayon color to draw. 

I mean as kids, we aren't responsible for our actions, we don't have to really think about our future, we don't have relationship problems or strained family issues, we don't have to worry about our looks. All we do is live in that moment, be childish, happy, carefree, irresponsible. I mean as kids we think the world is a beautiful place full of rainbows and Prince Charmings' waiting to sweep us off our feet. 

It's only when you enter your teens, you are dawned upon the harsh realities of life, and it hits you like a million bricks. The worst part is- you realize that this this world we live in, is full of demons and we are in desperate shortage of hero's who may save this diabolic world. 

Nobody ever told me growing up would be so hard! Making the right choices, being responsible for your own self, knowing how to take care of yourself, planing a future which is respectful for your parents and the society, trying to make a mark in this world, studying and working your butt off and yet not receiving your goal as its a rats race to the finish line. Being a teen? That's hard too, life isn't about partying and studying. We teen are the most confusing souls to elders, they just put a tag on us as rebellious, thankless, useless, etc. But have they tried to put themselves in our place? We are expected to act as adults, but still behave as children. I mean, how does anyone expect us to do that? And the funny part is that we are trying out best to do this, so maybe next time, parents can show a little empathy for us?  Not to mention we carry the pressure of our parents expectations of us around, like a 1000 kilo bag, permanently attached on our backs, till we get a job. Not only our parents but also to prove ourselves, to have faith when all those around doubt you, when other teens around you seem like a 1893763 times smarter than you, and you feel like the most hopeless fool of the century. At times like these, growing up sucks, to believe in ourselves to have faith and rekindle our hopes to achieve our goals. It's hard, but it's a journey we all have to endure by ourselves. But with our family an friends to keep us company, growing up is a little less hard, and enjoyable. Don't you agree?  

Identity Crisis

As youngsters we find it really difficult to answer the question- Who are you? What kind of person do you think you are? What category do you put yourself under?

I'm 16 and am search of my true identity, please come back after 30 years and maybe I'll have an answer by then, hopefully. That's what I tell most of people the who ask me those questions. 

It's not easy. I'm been trying to find some answers of my identity and it's been 16 years worth of searching, adapting and still haven't found any answer. I mean we spend our whole left trying to be ourselves when we haven't even see ourselves with our own eyes, just our reflection. Millions of people, millions of souls, millions of hearts, millions of brains trying to find their true identity. There's bound to be confusion and mistakes which results in someone pretending to be someone their not. Now that's a scary thought. I mean YOLO. You only live once, what the point of it if you waste it by being someone you're not? Why do we live? Isn't the whole point of all this money, hard-work, love, marriage, glamour, hardships etc to make this life worth living? To leave a mark in the world before you become one with the green pastures. 

Identity. That word itself is so ambiguous. It's can take many forms, let it be a fake ID you might have for under aged  drinking or a tag you may hold for working in a company or for your job, or the two types of identity one might have- the nice guy and the bad guy. That man you see at the bus stop- might be a funny, witty and charming boss in his office but a monster at home, a abusive husband. 

So can you really identify yourself? When there are so many temptation, distractions to get you off track from your   much wanted path of right living or so it seems.

How are we as inexperienced teenagers expected to find ourselves if the society we live is like a masked ball. Where everyone hides their true vulnerable self under a false external bravado in hopes of 'fitting in'. 

Who gets to decide how another human 'fits in?' How does anyone have the right to bully, insult and bring another man down for their own ego self boost in this pretence that we live under of this masked society. 

For example- most common topic. Gays and lesbians. How does one's homosexuality even remotely related to them being good or bad? How can people discard such individuals just based on their liking for the same sex. These horrible people mask under the pretence of god and his greatness but forget that god has made us all, and god will love us irrespective of our desires and our personalities. Why should a gay person not have the right to marry the person they love? Or have the same right of marriage as a normal couple? Why should he torture his self and be unhappy for his whole life, trying to 'fit it' in this pretencions life? 

When some people actually have the courage to come out of the closet, this so called society that we live in, asks, almost orders us to abandon and disrespect such people as if they have the plague. It's the society's ways that must be frowned upon; not gays or lesbians who are stuck in their evil web of pretence that this society has made. Even the whole deal with being size zero. The whole idea seems almost too absurd to be true. Beauty doesn't have a number. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and the insecurities we have and the scars we carry thought our lives is a result of this diabolic society that man has created. No girl is ugly, it's the society which is truly ugly. 

So finding ones' true self is a hard journey, and I wish all that my readers find what their looking for, and beware of this society. Nobody is allowed to make you feel inferior, nobody. Believe in yourself an your already halfway there. Follow your heart; always help others. I've been taught by my parents to always help people, it's the best damn feeling in the world. God compensates for your good work in some way or the other in life. So maybe try not too hard to fit in, cause everyone is born to stand out in their own unique ways. 

Identity crisis or not my friends. Be a good human being and that's all you will ever need in this life to etch your mark in this world. For a man's deed are always remembered by, even long after he is gone. 

To dad, with love

                          To dad,

                                       with love.

1st August.

Here it is! The day has finally arrived. The day my hero, my true idol, my favourite man on this earth was born. For those of you who might not have the knack of getting hints-my father.

So where do I begin? How? Will what I write be worth? How do I write about someone who has been an inspiration, a role model, a shoulder to lean on, my brick, my everything? That even words are not enough for this man? 

I remember those days, when you were still serving our borders so that people like you and I can live fearlessly without the fear of harm.  So that other men can have their families protected while you spend many a nights in below freezing temperature, together with our other brave hearts, fighting to keep our India safe? I do not think that we as civilians understand the kind of determination, vigour, bravery, strength, stamina, resolution that one needs to spend months and in some cases years without seeing civilization and to be away from their families, their love ones.
It is still etched  in my memory those days where you used to come home after 5 to 6 months, covered with literally a forest of facial hair, that turban, and that sparkle in your eyes, ecstatic to be home. But me stubborn being the 4-year-old, refused to come near you, thinking you were some strange man, who wanted to play with me and used to run away from your warm open arms. Hey, do not judge. I think even you'd be scared if you saw my father, he was the epitome of creepiness (no offense dad, I still love you!) But somehow even with my misguided mistrust on your external bravado, you'd still win my heart and we'd spend the rest of your time playing together, until you'd leave again to the train station, me literally fitting you like second skin; like Cinderella's lost shoe or in your case an army combat boot, wailing, begging for you not to go back. Maybe being in the army has made you miss some parts of my growing up, but be rest assured I don't think I would have wished to have it another way. Otherwise, how would I have gone around my school bulling my teachers to give me what am I want threatening that if they didn't obey to my wishes, my daddy would come with his big gun and shoot her. Well you could say I was kind of stubborn ? Ah, let's go with stubborn, yes I was a stubborn kid who always wanted her way, and maybe just implying or hinting to my friends or teachers that I had an army dad, somehow made me feel proud. Seeing in their eyes a hint of admiration for my dads profile just compensated your absence.  

Even now, you might have left the army, but you still manage to be the coolest dad from my social circle thanks to your charismatic skills of socialising and attracting people to you, by your boisterous personality, wit and your entertaining tales of your life stories. I mean come on! How many kids can say that their dads lived on for months for with 30 feet if snow capped mountains and nothing else to keep them company,fought battles, still have stolen merchandise from the militants they have killed with them, killed bad people ( and I mean it in the nicest way possible). Let me let you, not many can. That's what made my childhood cool. I have no one to thank for but you,dad. My favourite man on this earth. 

Even now when you're not in the army and are working for an MNC. You still manage to make the corporate world seem cool and with your taste for fashion make a little more glamorous? I wonder how you manage to do so much! Never have I seen a more hard working man than you. 

Oh and how could I ever forget that never ending knowledge of yours? You always know the answers to all of my questions and as a kid, I always thought you had a magic book where you would get all the answers. Yes, I was pretty imaginative kid then, wasn't I? I like to think I still am. 

Well that's going off topic. Sometimes I seriously think words can be enough. But I got to work with what I've got, so maybe I don't have the most beautiful hands to create a beautiful portrait of you and I or make the most beautiful card. Or not have I the money to buy you the things you want. But what I do have is a handful of writing skills which I have put to my best use to write to you, perhaps even just a small blog, to wish you all the happiness in the world! So happy birthday papa, I love you to the moon and back! May god bless you and I hope someday I can inspire people just as you inspired me. Many many many more to come, happy birthday once again to the most wonderful dad in the whole wide world 

PS- I know right now things may seem to be hard, but remember- everything will be okay in the end. If its not okay, it's not the end. So have faith dad, and your family is always always with you. 

                              From your favourite 

                                       kid. 

To be or not to be a Cliche`?

                     To be or not to be a Cliche`?

Cliche`. What exactly is the meaning of this word? Google- A cliché or cliche  is an expression, or an element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, or effect, and even, to the point  of being irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.

Now most would not even know the actual meaning, and the meaning I've just given makes no sense either. So let me just explain what it mean its simpler terms- It is a french word, the past participle of clicher. A predictable occurrence, a stereotype which actually ends up to be annoying to most of the general public. 

Now lets come back to our topic- To be or not to be a cliche`?

You know when your are sitting in a movie theatre and watching a rom-com, a romance or even a horror; and when the movie finally ends irrelevant of the movie being good or bad, you will sometime or the other comment- 'Oh my, that was such a cliched ending.' 

Yes, most of the movies do have the most stereotype kind of ending where the hero and the heroin may be seem be apart from each other and finally in the end, the hero or the heroin declare their never ending love for each other in the most cheesiest way possible and Disney's depiction of the famous lines - "And they lived happily ever after." Most people would go like- Why is it that the hero always gets his girl? Or the protagonist always gets the life they want or the goals and success they always wanted to achieve? This movie has such a predictable storyline, I don't even know why I sat through the full film. I think you and I both know that deep inside, there is a reason why we wanted to watch that film, deep down, even if our stubbornness gets the better of us; there is always a reason why you actually took the efforts of buying that movie ticket and spend like 2 hours of your day watching that specific film. 

We may not know it, but deep down, however cynical we may think ourselves to be, we wait just for the ending. Where the hero, finally gets his girl or the the protagonist does not die and fights his way back or finally achieves what the whole point of the movies storyline is. Maybe because in real life, things never happen the way we want. We never are given the things we ask for or wish for on a sliver platter- even after working all your life to achieve that wish and going through all trials and tribulations. When life refuses to give us our much earned fruits, that's when we want to escape. And what's the best way other than watching a movie, empathising with the protagonist's pain and you understand the problems the hero goes through and as the storyline progress you connect with the hero and when the totally over rated 'happily ever after' finale arrives and the hero finally gets his earnest wish, maybe in that bubble you have created in the movie theatre, pretending to be the character you feel a sense of happiness and accomplishment which you may have not experienced in your life, and maybe that's the only reason you sit there for 2 hours in your very own bubble. Movies are of all kinds and all types of cliched movies are made. But yet again, it's only a matter of personal choice and thinking of one. But I can guarantee that everyone is in search of their happy ever after, it's all a matter of faith and destiny, a game of this thing we can life, in hopes of finding our true selves. Maybe, that's why we made clichés. To give us that brief assurance that all will have our very own happy endings, we just have to keep faith and trust ourselves and our hearts. At the end of the day, it's doesn't matter if get or don't get our earnest wishes. What matters is the journey and the search for our very own clichéd ending and I hope with all my heart that everyone gets their perfect Disney ending. I sure wish my life had a cliché ending. No, not the ones you see in these films but my very own cliched ending. So I don't think to be a cliché who be the worst thing in the world! Like Gossip Girl once quoted 'We make our own fairytales." And I can't wait to make mine. 

Au Revoir or goodbye?

                      SCHOOL DAYS 

I remember the times I've looked at a senior of my school and almost, like an instantaneous combustion of gas molecules go like, 'Oh my god, I wish I was her/him. That lucky girl/boy has a counted number of days left to be officially booted out of this school and into the wonderful world, full of  opportunities; while I sit here and continue going to this claustrophobic environment of these never ending exams and studies.'

Its funny how after 3 years I'm in their position, more ready than I can ever be; but a certain part of my mind nagging, brooding even so, a tiny voice reminding me that my school days are over. My usual routine for the past 10 years of my life, has finally come to an end, no, not a pause but a legitimate end. No more taking the morning bus, no more annoying kinder garden kids screeching to go back home, no more vigorous basketball sessions, no more boring morning assemblies etc.

But come on, I think the sole reason we all would drag our butts all those years, was to see your best friend smiling, eagerly waiting to share her never ending drama or to gossip about just about anything under the sun. Spending lunch time catching up with your friends, teasing, annoying them and of course saying the most wonderful and lovely things about our teachers. Sarcasm intended of course. 

Jokes aside, I think however we may think we hate school, we miss it with all our hearts when those days are gone.My mother always says- the friends you make in school are the ones that will last you a lifetime, and I stand true by this statement.  We may drift apart, making our own careers, making our choice; but I know I can always depend on them when in trouble.

 Its true when they say that you never know the true worth of something unless its gone. So maybe we should start to appreciate the people and things around us, stop our wining and realise the true worth of something, cause who know how long you will have it? This life is full of surprises. Around ever corner, some happy, some unexpected. But hey, life sucks; but we have to deal with it and just make the best of everything you have. So if you are a 50,15 or even 5, school days are never over, even if it seems so. Its your way of living or perspective of this ever changing life whether you want to live as a school boy- carefree, happy, innocent, childish; its all a matter of how you see things. 

So saying goodbye to school days is over-rated. Its all a matter of finding that innocence, that childishness, the happiness in the simplest of aspects in ones life. 

So Au Revoir my friend!