this is what i do for living.

 the blog is not complete without one of these,

thank you Bill Watterson, the reclusive genius.

rain drops.

I love the west. Especially the US and A, as Borat calls it. The freedom, the promise, the affluence and all the other things that tell the rebel inside me to break the shackles and run of into the sunset. I am impressed by their customs (or the lack of it) and find aping the west really cool. Coming up with a witty retort, using lines from famous sitcoms, quoting famous lines by my favorite actors and getting the timing right, priceless. But lately I’ve started thinking about all this and, this is where I got.

As basic needs, man needs food clothing and shelter. The quality of the three available at a period directly reflects the affluence of that period. Skyscrapers dot the landscape; there are retail outlets at the end of every street offering all the variety that a man could wish for in his food, including frozen items and ready to eat recipes for the unskilled. With respect to clothing, I have very little knowledge; though it remains a fact that fashion in the west is a thriving industry. Who wouldn’t like all this at the cost of a little compromise on our part In the name of tradition and culture?

As I sat thinking about this, i thought about our own country, the emerging superpower, whose growth can be best described by the frequently used scientific description of motion, “infinitesimal”. The politics, the so-called dirtiness of it; The country where taking a stand, defending it, protecting assets & boundaries and taking resolute decisions are followed zealously in the internal politics; but are comfortably forgotten when the issues involved are international. A country so bent on keeping its pretences of ahimsa that “retaliation” is a meaningless phrase for an attack from the outside while the country burns gaily from separatism and dynasty politics. What kind of tradition should one be proud of?? One that leads to massacres??

Even after all this I couldn’t help but think of certain things. America was built by people fleeing their nations for greener pastures. They wanted to live, they were talented and they found the place inviting, a promise of a new world, a new world order. On the other hand we reached where we are today after 200 years of colonial rule that plundered us of all its wealth and left a lasting impact; a contemporary take of the movie “inception” where a single idea was planted in the minds and it snowballed into communal riots as time progressed.

Still, after all this we have not lost our identity. There is still something left of our old ways, our culture. A culture that speaks of our affluence in the world long before now. Here, I take the three primary needs again, Indian cuisine boasts of such quality unparalleled by the sheer variety of the culinary delights, a north Indian style of cooking and a distinct south Indian style. Their styles, so intricate that being a master of both is not easy. The sweets, the savouries, the appetizers, the desserts and the cooking of all this being an art in itself, the spices used in these legendary. 

Among other things India was famous for indigo and cotton. We exported cotton and we were exploited for cotton. 6 yards of cloth to drape oneself? If this is not a show of prosperity, what is??. The temples, the fort, the palaces, the tombs, the inns, all speak of incredible workmanship, and one of them is a world wonder. The artistic beauty of queen’s well (Rani ki Vav) speaks of India’s arrogance in its ability to design even wells tastefully. The west of yore offers us cities with metal plates stating town names and wooden assemblies for houses. Enter Clint Eastwood with his gun and we go gaga(damn,I always dream of twirling guns and killing arbit people In split second timing).

Being built up with dreamers, the States as we see it; is a force, a superpower among nations, India on the other hand suffers, not mainly from corruption but more from ideological disputes. Corruption is everywhere, so no point blaming it for our slow growth. The turnaround can be achieved if for once we started believing in ourselves, that India  truly is emerging(not as stated in empty political harangues)  and that  we are as good as any other country. The starting point of this would be to start respecting oneself, as in respecting who you are. I know it is pretty repetitive but again, respecting your culture, traditions and heritage and taking pride in it. We are by nature pretty humble and do not gloss about our value to the world and hence the present plight.

It’s good that we are questioning our beliefs and traditions; no other culture offers such liberty. The questioning should lead to answers rather than lazy acceptance of status quo.  There’s untapped wealth in our ancient practices and hence it wouldn’t hurt if we tapped it for our development. To have come this far with all the short comings, we surely have a unifying “Indian”ness held together by tradition. To take it forward, look up to the elders, respect our culture, revive our sagging arts and crafts and rediscover the Indian in you. It’s a fact that lot of ugly social practices are attributed to the culture and tradition. Now, the young India, I feel is mature enough to know where to draw the line.

A quest into the past, I believe will not prove futile. It will on the contrary lead to self-discovery (and others such big words used by big people) and in the process lead us in the path of development. As an article I came across in The Hindu states, the simplest thing we can do is to stop the diatribe against India in the name of getting comfortable with a tourist. If he’s come to India he’s signed up for the whole package, including “Banot" neatness.

I’m not going to advocate piousness, pureness and being prude. Unknowingly we have imbibed some of our practices from our childhood; as an educated man there might be things that one might find foolish to follow in the present day, don’t take it, learn about other stuff ,question it, find answers and enjoy its beauty and the genius that went into creating it. India right now looks ragged and tired, let us dress her up.

Swagatham

SWAGATHAM,

I’ve always loved the phrase “hello world”. I’d have started my first post with “hello world” had a certain movie not spoiled my plans. Using it would lead to an assumption that I’ve watched the movie, was impressed by it and that I deify the protagonist and his antics.Although some of these might be true, I still don’t want to be branded in the first post.

Blogging is something I should have started sometime back. Not that I’ve stories overflowing in my head ,nor do I live a life abounding with interesting experiences waiting to be written about. My technical know how is nothing much to talk about and If I start writing political satires/stories god help the readers do you have that many??You just used a plural there. The only reason behind this being the sheer joys of writing (typing).I sincerely wish that this is the first of many more to come.

There was a deep discussion between my split personalities,(when it happen its not like what they show in raavan,I can vouch for that) we came to a consensus ,an amicable settlement, nothing amicable about it, u suck at writing, get a life dude, you are just riding on your  bloated pride, do u have any pride?? Blog? what blog?? Thu naye!    STOP!!  Sorry for the intrusion, we did reach an amicable decision, and that was to create one and think of the next step later hmph I didn’t agree! Alright, so, keeping with the spirit of this blog, I’ve no idea as of now, as to where this post is headed.  I’ve no idea either, but I’m not letting him do this alone.

First impressions are important. I stand by it. “Appearances can be deceptive” was coined by con book writers strictly for their stories.  But unlike some people I lack the flamboyance and hence settle for a second or a third impression to sail me through. My thought process, being a bundle of contradictions most of the time; i  would like to add a disclaimer: what is written in the first line may be contradicted in the second line or third line or may be affirmed in the fourth.

There are different ways to go about this blogging thing:

Write about something devoid of any meaning laced with so many words that send a fellow preparing for gre looking up dictionaries only to find them absent or totally used in the wrong context or grammar.

Write about mundane day today stuff like polishing your shoes and how tying your laces impeccably, gives you immense satisfaction of achieving something. Or better still. Log on, grumble about how bored u are, and how jobless you are to start blogging  in the first place and how you are on the verge of sleeping /yawning diminishing the already receding cogency.

Then there is the blog of knowledge .Write about things you are passionate about with precise content, semantics and opinions dished out for a reader to enjoy and understand, these are generally the kind that gets into serious discussions in the comments area.

Finally, the one I enjoy reading the most, written in easy language, witty, looking at the lighter side of life.

All these require various levels of exertion on the writer’s part, I, for one want to reach the ideal balance, no work on my part and good following. How??

One overwhelming piece of art(writing). A flash in the pan.Or, a series of flashes in the pan. Maybe I can create a market for mediocrity and sell myself as its king. Campaigns like Finesse is out of fad, settle for suckers, etc.For publicity, Sun pictures should do i guess. They just don't give a damn about content as long as the price is right. Please read your blog first.

 Before I start claiming sleepiness, hunger and headache for the babbling I make myself clear. The reason for stopping is not that I’m appalled at my writing. My writing as they say is legendary they?? Who?? It is just that my words have run out of thoughts I know, verbal diarrhoea and they’ve become a jumble of words TACKED together. There I’ve done it, included the name of the blog in the post.  Inspired by a certain kumanan eh??.

Cheers!