In vivo. In vitro.
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 |
|
Random.
|
It has been a while and no matter how much try to convince myself to keep this thing alive each time I start off after a break, it inevitably defies all of that. Each time I see something on telly, I decide to right about that in my next blog and as you can see, there never happened a 'next' blog. I have really lousy memory too 'cause one would be inclined to think that now that I am finally penning something down this should turn out to be a very long blog. To be really honest, am drawing a blank. I figured, at one point, I will turn into a political commentator. Turn this blog into something that would let the world know my opinion about the things that are happening with the government and such other things. And that's one sphere, maybe after the entertainment industry, wherein there is no dearth of news feeds. We have too many politicians. Politicians. So in effect, we are fed with random BS from them every second of the day. That should put an end to my excuse of not having come across anything to write/talk about. But that really didn't work. Each time I saw the news and wondered about what to write about I found that everything came back to the same thing. There's just too much distortion in the whole set up. And I carefully avoid the term system 'cause I firmly believe that everyone resorts to the "The system sucks" rhetoric just for that - rhetoric. No one is ready to try and get into the "system" to understand its workings. Nor are they prepared to analyse their statement and do something about it. It's just system hating and system bashing. I use 'set-up' because it is the people who run the 'system'. So there. There are loads of 'glitches' -maybe this is the understatement of the year- in the set up. Plus, this whole secular melodrama is something that I cannot stand. People claim to be secular when they clearly are not. And in that, I mean any party. So I'd say that you might as well cut all the BS and really either support someone outright or not really care about the whole discrimination angle 'cause it is starting to get really boring now. After politics, I was in the mood for some media bashing. Continuing along the 'secular' line of the political parties, the media have projected themselves as the guardian of the poor and under priviledged when all they really care about is perpetuating the whole idea of classes and castes to really make their news items more and more attractive in their own twisted, distorted way. An Indian boy gets a call from NASA and a scholarship to study in the US and the headlines read "A dalit boy gets NASA call". Seriously though, when the US really didn't care which country he belonged to, let alone his caste, why do we? Especially the self-proclaimed secular media should be the one that should care the least. Aren't we above all that? Or at least you said that last time on your report. Then there are the exit polls. There is a swing this way or that. And in the end, it just does not translate into a real swing. In most cases it just seems like a way to further the agenda of the party they are supporting. So in that sense, I really don't think there is even one 24*7 news channel on Indian television that is devoid of any sort of bias. Then there are news scoops which apparently everyone cares about. Some actor fell down and sprained his ankle. And that HAS to be breaking news. And yadda yadda yadda. Maybe I come across as cynical. But seriously, I am ok with it. I haven't touched upon the much serious aspects of these channels today wherein no one gets the privacy they claim each person deserves and also, not much of the concepts of national interest and ethical journalism that has survived. After all external influences were done with, I turned to my personal life. There were a lot of events I wanted to write about. A few of them just served as a trip down memory lane. There were instances that made me feel like I had conquered the world. Times when the statement "payback's a b**ch!" made complete sense to me and even though there was no confrontation involved I've to say that I enjoyed it just as much. There were times that felt like it was chiseled to perfection by God himself, a sense of belonging that overwhelms you and makes you feel part of something special. In the past few weeks, I've had my braces removed, gauged the reactions of a lot of people on a certain personal event, been a part of a family reunion, been scared to death about my new endeavour and had moments of such a high that gave me the confidence to take over the world. I guess in the end, such personal incidents are better dissected inside your head than otherwise especially when the dust hasn't settled down or the feeling sunk in to give you a better perspective of what just happened. Maybe that is why history is interesting. It is always easier to talk about stuff that has been done with or ones that haven't happened yet. One gives you the power to justify and explain things without having to live through anything again because the consequences are done with by the time someone decides to talk about them. And as for the future, it is always easy to talk the talk and technically, the fellow on the other side couldn't say that you can't walk the walk until you really get there. The present is skewed even though you're in it. I guess that really IS the problem. You are the centre of a bubble and your vision of most of the things that are ready to pop it or sustaining it is blurry. So maybe once all this settles down I will write a coherent, less disjoint post. :S Debatable. I guess. pooF. PS: The only piece of news that really came as a shock to me was the retirement of Justine Henin. All the Best, Justine and Thank you! |
posted by Ms.V @ 00:03  |
|
|
|
| Thursday, May 08, 2008 |
|
Traveling.
|
I just came back from Mangalore. Attended my friend’s wedding. For once, I could see the bride and her XX relatives ‘cause they weren’t covered in gold. A huge contrast from the Mallu wedding I attended last week. Before these two, my weddings-attended tally was 5/6. I suppose the whole move to Bangalore in a month is sort of pushing me to get as many things done here before I leave. It almost makes me sound like a terminally ill patient. But from what I’ve heard, apparently B is going to be a hectic affair.
Coming back to today, the whole lure of the wedding was really the fact that I could go to M’lore and hang out with few of my old classmates, which was totally fun by the way. We all screamed and ate ice cream. :) I love traveling. I’ve to say that I wouldn’t want to travel to “see” places but to feel them. My dad’s job gave me the opportunity to travel to a few countries. I suppose if you were to look at those trips with respect to what new things I saw, they ought to be. 1) Sri Lanka: I was introduced to planes and air pockets; ayubovan; the realization that elephants existed not just in Kerala; clean cities; beautiful beaches; escalators and Buddha! 2) Western Europe: Automatic doors; public washing machines (God bless them!); American Cookies; the real Coke; Thalys; Eurostar; Trams; The English Channel; Mona Lisa; Louvre Museum; Tulips; Pickpockets; really BIG supermarkets; Mars; Snickers; Spanish Steps; Colosseum; Eiffel Tower; Mini Europe; NATO HQ etc.
You get the point. The drill is ubiquitous in such spots. Smile and Click. Over to the next sight people! For me traveling has to be more than that. It is really not about the Romans having built fountains at every junction which makes it really hard to understand Italians trying to help you when you’re lost ‘cause more often than not the landmark mentioned is a fountain. It is not about whether the Monalisa original shows her smiling or not.
From my trips, what I’ve understood other than the clichéd exposure to different cultures is that there is exposure and there is understanding. Most travel to fill up their photo albums, and I know a few of them personally. The whole point of experiencing a different culture and lifestyle seems to be lost on them.
Due to my father’s schedule, our trips were mainly restricted to the weekends and I was there for just 4 weekends. As such, we unwillingly enrolled for those darn guided tours. But the best part of our entire trip was when my dad and I ‘backpacked’ around the city of Rome. We ditched the guided tour and ended up getting lost. In Rome, there are specific bus stops for each bus, not like the generic stops that we have here. And at each stop, they’ve boards with the bus’s number on it, followed by its stops. The stop that you’re currently at will be highlighted. This was our ‘compass’. It wasn’t huge, but that was an experience that goes way beyond throwing coins into the Trevi fountain. We did not come across any famous buildings, or maybe we just didn’t realize it. But we were a part of the Roma crowd that day. It strengthens your identity so much more. Not that it pronounces you more or less Indian. But it lets you know that one can relate to people from anywhere around the world. We can share the same path. We can make our footprints on those cobbled stones together. It helps you understand. There are a lot of doors between people that have to be rendered open, automatically. |
| posted by Ms.V @ 19:25 |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, May 07, 2008 |
|
Random Voices in my head. :\
|
Some kind of revival, eh? I've been toying with the idea of writing, blogging. But the things that pop into my head aren't worth it. But then again, since I've nothing better to do. Here goes.
1) Prince William lands his copter in the garden of his girlfriend's home. Whatever. But the funny thing was RAF's explanation.
"This was very much a routine training sortie that achieved essential training objectives."
If I were in England, I guess I'll be keeping an eye out for the copters. At least, I could run out on the streets shouting "The aliens are here!" Oops. It was just the Prince perfecting his copter landing skills in my backyard!!
2) The demand by MPs to have a 50% reservation for Muslim women and women from backward classes within the 33% reservation proposed in a bill which has seen too many PMs and MPs debate, discuss and discard it. So to all the MPs with such demands, Good luck! It is a shame that everything that happens in this country has to be under the umbrella of religion and castes. I agree that some people had it worse than some others. But a poor Brahmin is not 'richer' than a poor Muslim. Neither is the latter more poor than the former.
3) Bhajji-Sreesanth Slap Soap. To be really honest, I think IPL deserves the slap. The reason for the whole IPL drama was because the ICL was born. So lo and behold, we shall get all the celebrity power we can muster and make the game even more commercial than it was ever thought possible. In the end, the Symondses of the world got their pockets full and with the latest Bhajji episode, walk back home with a bag full of proofs and justifications.
4) From Cricket to Football. I am not someone who knows all the technicalities of football and such. But these days I've been watching lots more of that. And I am lovin' it! :) And yes, I do know how the offside rule works. So boo ya! :)
5) My move to Bangalore. So I'll be leaving home in a month. At times it does freak you out. During my Masters I was in a place which was much less hectic than this new one is supposed to be and also, it just took a 3 hrs train ride to get home. This is a whole 10 hrs away by road. But, am excited nonetheless. It should be fun. Wait. It HAS to B! :P
So that's the random gibberish. Seriously though, I am stuck with the word "psychedelia" playing in my head over and over again. Maybe there's something even more random coming soon! :D
pooF.
|
| posted by Ms.V @ 23:08 |
|
|
|
| Sunday, May 04, 2008 |
|
The Revival.
|
I am yo-yoing back to my old id again. With a new template and all. droopyeyes-n-lazyfingers.blogspot.com shall no longer exist. That name was something that played in my head for a while. If it hadn't translated into a blog id, I'd probably have that as an email id. After it has been in your head for a while, you feel the need to protect it from unseen forces(read random people). Anyhow, I am in a mood to consolidate. So I've deleted a couple, ehem, lot of my email ids and bringing this blog back to life is part of that drive. I guess I am being a little superstitious as well, 'cause this blog had seen quite a number of posts and comments before I decided to shut it down. Hope to at least make this post one of the many that this page will call its own.
..V :)
|
| posted by Ms.V @ 00:43 |
|
|
|
Breeding Lucidity | Blogger Templates by Gecko & Fly.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without permission.
Learn how to Make Money Online at GeckoandFly
|
