Pink skirts and Teddy bears

Women are actually an assortment of excitement, innovation, peace and bliss. They can be compared to a teddy bear – soft, cute and cushiony. They are a bundle of joy when treated with respect and a package of sorrow if they are disregarded. But one must understand that it is her inherent nature to love unconditionally.

Who wouldn’t love to gawk at those pretty dames dressed in trendy attires shaded in pinks, yellows, reds and mauves? How appealing do they look with those lovely ribbons and laces and with smile on their faces? Who wouldn’t care to ogle at those slender arms, shapely legs, attractive features and floating hair? Men would love to ogle at those cute looks and dresses. But do they ever try to understand what is behind those silky gowns? Will the opposite sex realize the feelings a woman goes through? No. According to them, women are dolls. They are pleasurable objects. They are meant to dance to the tunes composed by man. The music sometimes is short, sometimes long and sometimes never played and sometimes never ending.

A sizeable percentage of the world’s male population expects a woman to follow a set protocol. Based on how harder she struggles to attain it, that big a place in his heart is awarded to her for a stipulated period. Then the woman is rolled down from his heart as it happens in snakes and ladders by the roll of a dice. Such is the life of a woman. She has no idea when she would climb to the top with the help of a ladder and when she would be gulped by the scary snake. Unpredictable temperaments of men rules over women. Will the world accept if a woman rules over a man? Never.

I do agree that women have obtained lot more freedom than what it was years back. I am enjoying the freedom that my Mother would not have and my daughters are bound to enjoy a little more than what I did. But a woman is always a woman – a slave to man. She should seldom attempt to think on her own. She is expected to slaughter her desires and emotions. Isn’t she a living doll that is stuffed with unexpressed desires and emotions? All that she requires is a cuddle assuring a portion of love. But men are egoistic to that extent that they wouldn’t give such an assurance.

Man – woman relationship starts with a fascination. Being charmed by those sparkling eyes and childish attitude, man encourages her fly high with all the non-existing fantasies that she holds. When all her illusions fade away with the suddenly skeptical attitude of man, she has no other choice other than to fall down with a bang followed by melancholy for the rest of her life. I have seen men getting mesmerized with the external appearance of a woman that they prepare themselves to surrender at their lady’s feet. But the feeling does not stay for long. After some time, it simply dies away. The fascination does exist but no longer with the same person. Well, it happens with women too but they are prevented from shifting their loyalty to some others when men can easily jump from one tree to another without any hassle. That is the attitude of a typical Indian man.

Why this bias? Why this partiality? Who said that man is superior to a woman? Why does the world treat her so? A woman becomes a princess of a man’s heart when she obeys to her majesty’s commands and slips down to the floor when she doesn’t or raises a word against. Every woman in that angle is a prostitute since she pleases her partner to get what she wants. She is not supposed to think on her own or take her own decisions. She is always encapsulated. Only her physique appeals to a man and not her inner feelings and emotions.

Being born as a girl was not her fault. Looking pretty isn’t her fault either. Emotions and desires are inborn. Falling into the trap of love is not uncommon. But being used and thrown is her destiny.

Freedom for the 'not so supreme' living beings

I visited the zoo in Al Ain a week back along with my family. My daughters enjoyed gazing at the different things each animal was doing. Some were lazing around; some were jumping with joy; some were miserably looking at the visitors; some were busily eating and some were pathetically sitting and dreaming. For a moment I thought what would be running through those animals’ minds? They say that animals are incapable of thinking but why is it that I felt that they were mourning? Why did I turn sad on seeing an orangutan which I felt was at the verge of tears? Was there something really wrong with that poor creature? Or was it just my imagination?

‘Zoo is a prison for animals.’ This is my view. I feel that their movements are restricted within the walls of their allotted space. Fortunately or unfortunately, man is the supreme creation of God and as a result animals and birds have no other choice other than to obey the master. It could also be true that if they were let free, they would harm people. But still I feel that they should be let free. When terrorists (who are supposedly human beings with intellect) can roam around freely in this world, these poor creatures definitely have the right to their freedom.

Animals in the zoo may be well fed and very well taken care of. The environment may also look jungle-like but how can they give them the freedom that they deserve? How will a man feel like if he is fenced in the middle of a jungle and animals come to ‘see’ him everyday? Will he feel comfortable? Every bird or animal tries to build a house on its own to stay. Why do they do so? Is it not because every being is entitled to a private moment? I felt so uncomfortable on seeing those animals constantly being watched. The worst thing was that the lights were turned on during night time. Wouldn’t it be too suffocating for those creatures?

I am against growing pets at home thinking that I would be doing injustice to them by holding them in my house for my purpose and comfort but I know of many people who grew pets with all love and how the pets too reciprocated the same or more love to them. Yet they chain their pets or cage them when situation demands. Can love be chained? Can love be caged? Well, there may be controversies here. I know of many families who cared a lot for the pet that they grew, who understood its needs very well and the pet too preferred to stay back with them.

Aren’t animals at liberty to roam around this world? Let them also explore and innovate things their way. Animal Planet and Discovery channels are doing a great job. Is that not enough for us to learn about animals? Should we necessarily have a zoo as a medium of education and entertainment? Let the animals loiter all over and let we, the supreme creation of God equip ourselves always to escape from a fierce animal. Just like how people are trained in army to fight against their enemies every individual should be provided training if an animal comes to attack him. Is that not enough? Will the world understand what I am trying to say? Am I hearing voices of human beings whispering “Our lives are much more miserable than the animals in the zoo”? :)

Life's little lessons

The smile of a toddler and the innocent laughter of an infant can be mesmerizing. I realized this truth last evening when a couple visited us with their two children. The elder one was a four year old kid and the younger one was a seven month old kid. It was a nice feeling to carry the little one and play with him. The child was so happy with the new place and surrounding that he responded well to every game I played with him. It was wonderful to see him conquer his sleep because of the games that he enjoyed to participate in. Finally, when he could no more keep his little eyes wide awake, he made a loud cry followed by a short sleep.

It was such a lovely sight to watch the little boy fast asleep. I somehow began feeling that his sleep was blissful and tension-free. He does not have the worry about his next meal or the fear whether he would get another pair of clothes tomorrow or whether he would grow up to be a billionaire. He doesn’t search for a particular person to keep him happy. He smiles and laughs at whoever makes him smile. His needs are simple and genuine. He gets up with no expectations, cries when he is hungry or thirsty, cries when he needs a wash, laughs when something interests him and sleeps when he is sleepy. Simple!

I realised that I did not enjoy the infancy stage of my daughters because I had a big role to play then. I was only concerned about the endless tasks and the insufficient time I had in a day. Though there were moments when I relaxed my mind by looking at my kids’ angelic faces, still I could not persistently enjoy them. But last night, I felt that it indeed is a joy to have a little baby at home whom you can cuddle with and smile at all day long. Their cherubic face removes the loads of stress that we hold. They are undoubtedly a pill to our greedy and restless mind.

It was a sad feeling to part from the little child last night. I wished I had him all day home so that I can get inspired by his innocence. When I told the older boy that I wish to retain his little brother here with me, while he can go back home with his parents, he innocently returned the toy that he took from our house and said “I have returned yours. Now return that is mine.” It was surprising to see the understanding the little boy has in his mind. Life has begun teaching him little lessons already. As years pass by, they understand what belongs to them and what not.

The little boy made me forget all the tensions and worries that were piled up on my mind that I forgot about all of them as long as he was there. There were many things that would have eased my mind that was so clouded – an intellectual conversation, a chat with my friend, a drive or even a walk would have diverted my mind but I considered the boy’s visit as a God-given gift to me that made me go through innocence for a while along with him. Though tiny, though new to this world, he was yet successful in imparting some knowledge onto me. He made me believe that life is so simple. I felt as though he said “Stop dreaming and live for the moment like me.”

Breathing my new life

My life is radically changing with the passage of every hour, every minute and every second. Whether the change is going to be beneficial to me or not is a question that I do not wish to interrogate myself since the occurrence of events are so exciting. I am also able to identify a new ‘me’ everyday. My acuity is no more limited. I have defined no boundaries for anything. My thoughts are no longer miserable. I am free. I am independent. I am liberated. I am ‘ME’.

I am known as a very talkative person to many, as a reserved person to a few, as a lively person to another few, an irritating specimen to some. The list is endless. But knowing me through me is an achievement and I did it! I now know me. I love me. I want me to be me, forever. I am my special me.

I no longer want to depend on the happiness of yester years or the dreams of my future. I want to enjoy every bit of the happenings in my life that are festooned with vibrant wrappers and are available exclusively for me. Whether it brings me joy or sorrow, I want to accept it and enjoy it too. I am confident. I am positive. I am self-assured.

No philosophies can convince me. I have formulated my own unique conjecture to lead my life. I have drawn the silhouette of the vim and vigor of my existence. I will be exclusively responsible for every movement in my life starting from the air that I breathe. This is my new life, my lonely life, my only life! There are no partakers of the happiness and sorrows that I go through ‘coz it is MY life.

How inimitable is the creation of an individual! Each one of us is distinctively known through our exceptional nature. Set aside the limitations that bind us. Throw away the objects of disturbances. Kick off the statutory obligations that restrict us. Lead the blissful life that brings shocking surprises and excitement every second. Is that not life all about? We are gifted not to have absolutely any idea of what will happen the next second. Isn’t life thrilling? It is indeed thrilling to me. Life is like watching a thriller movie. Every second is going to be suspense. Sometimes appalling and sometimes pleasurable.

Weekend Musings

Friends promised to come home but did not. My weekend thus began with disappointment. But it was not as bad as expected. Friday gave a slow start as always. But it turned out to be an interesting weekend in the end. We decided to go for a movie in the evening.

I never appreciate taking kids to cinema halls. I get irritated with the noise of children at theatres. I love watching movies uninterruptedly with a bag of popcorn, a bar of chocolate and some juice. I hate to attend to kids’ uneasiness at that time. Hence I successfully avoided my kids into theatres so far. G and I managed to watch movies in their absence always. Either of our parents was always there every time we wanted to watch a movie. But this time, we had nobody to look after kids but I badly wanted to divert my mind. Hence I decided to take kids along with us to the movie. I gave them a brief lecture as to how a cinema hall would look like and what would be screened and about the silence they are expected to maintain throughout and finally promised them all the goodies that they would love to munch. That did the magic.

Surprisingly, they were quiet all through. They were amazed to see the gigantic screens in front of them and things being screened in an enlarged version. The sound was deafening and they were all surprised. We went to a Hindi movie called “Fashion”. Kids do not understand a word in Hindi but the exuberance in their faces was so profound that I could make out that they were really thrilled by the strange feeling. They were so busy munching their popcorn and cheese balls that they were completely lost in their own world.

The movie was a fantastic movie – flawless and thoroughly entertaining with not one unwanted scene in between. It was so coherent and sequential. Priyanka has indeed done a fantastic role.

In the interval, I asked kids if they enjoyed the movie. They gave me a big nod. One said that she enjoyed their popcorn most while the other said that she enjoyed the aunty on screen. At the end of the movie, I was curious to know if the kids understood something. But both of them said that they did not understand anything but enjoyed it because it was a huge screen with many beautiful ladies and nice gorgeous stuff that they wore. They also made a request finally to take them to a Tamil movie next time so that they can understand something. :)

Categories of People

The most wonderful creation of God is believed to be man. The uniqueness of every individual from a new born baby adds further beauty to God’s creation. But my concern is about those set of people God created by mistake. I guess that those kinds of people are still alive since God cannot due to some reason erase the error. Maybe server was down when He wanted to recall them back. Are you wondering about what kind of people am I talking about?

Category 1 – People who do not answer their phone: I agree that we all will get into a situation where we may not be able to attend calls. But this particular sect of people does not fall into that class. They do not pick up phone by habit. Even if the heaven comes down, they will not pick their phone up. If by mistake they pick it up, they have their recorded monotonous message, “I will call you back.” The time will never come for them to return their calls till their death. If we happen to meet such idiots in person, we silly people tend to confess honestly to them that we had called him on this date at this time and such crap. To such questions, he would reply with wonderment, “Is it? I never received your call!”

I know boss! I know you never bother to check who called you. Maybe you are using a mobile that cannot store more than 20 numbers. You consistently miss all calls and act as though you know nothing! We are fools to call people like you. I think you carry a phone for fashion.

I feel tempted sometimes to snatch their phones and hand it over to really needy people.

Category 2 – People who give missed calls: Of late, it is becoming a habit to give missed calls to people who are at work so that they can use their office phones for personal use. That is not my worry. Again, my concern is about people who give missed calls at our residence numbers. They lack the sense of understanding that we are not interested in returning their call when we turn quiet to such strange rings. They continuously give missed calls after missed calls until we return their call. What kind of foolishness is this! Sometimes, I try picking up immediately to such missed calls. Even if by mistake they happen to hear our “hello”, they immediately ask us to call back. I don’t understand why I should be interested in saving their money!! Or will they call us back if we give them missed calls? Good heavens! Save the earth from such silly guys!

Category 3 – People who don’t respond to emails: I know that emails simply get accumulated in everybody’s mail box. 24 hours will be insufficient if one has to read and dispose all the mails on a given day. But, these kinds of people I am talking about have the time to read but no time to respond. They claim to be ‘busy’ people. They have all the time on earth to read mails or see the pictures sent but we should believe them without a doubt when they say that they did not have time to reply. Is it not an insult to the person who sends the mail?

At the moment, I am vexed with the above mentioned categories of people. They all fall into the ‘educated classes’! Education has lost its value for having educated such people!

A Fulfilling Weekend

This weekend brought about the real change that we all were looking forward to. We had invited A and S to our house for dinner on Thursday. With the curtain guys fixing the curtains at one end and me concentrating on kids at the other end, it seemed a never ending process. I was just running behind the two to make sure they don’t run over the screws and nails the curtain guys had scattered all over. The remains of curtain hooks, screws, nails and the powder that fell from the wall as they drilled holes all over, were indeed a big mess to clean. They kept me busy from morning 10.30 till 5 pm in the evening.

Thanks to the Thursday traffic that made G, A and S come very late back home. Had they come much earlier, they would have been shocked to see a messy house with no trace of any dinner being served. I was delighted to see ‘people’ coming home. Being deprived of any kinds of contacts for a long time, the arrival of A and S indeed brought some bloom in the face of children as well as mine.

A and S were equally delighted. They played with kids and kept them thoroughly entertained. Then came the dinner time! Kids ate quickly with the least fuss fearing that they might miss something if they ate slowly. That way, one of my big troubles of feeding kids was also diminished by A and S. G, A, and S had dinner together and they richly complimented the food that I served (I really do not know if they meant what they said). After dinner, we all sat down to play board games. Well, I should admit here that kids are growing up. They too sat down to play with us and had great fun playing. We then listened to some music, talked, talked and talked. I thought I was only going through the loneliness here in the new city but the way kids reacted that night proved that they were also dying to meet people. After prolonged hours of chatting, we then decided to sleep.

I don’t understand why the sun rises too damn quickly on a Friday! I was prompted to curl myself into the blanket for a little more time when I was suddenly reminded of Sadguru’s words – “It is not real freedom to sleep for a long time. Real freedom lies only when you can afford to get up at ANY time you are asked to get up.” I had to get up early to take care of the ‘guests’ at home and serve them a proper meal though framing an itinerary for the day was a big task since each of us got up at a different time. We planned from a desert safari to watching movies – but nothing actually worked. We finally decided to have our lunch outside and keep loitering around. Each of us had our breakfast at a different time.

By the time we went out for lunch, it was 3.15 and somehow managed to get into a restaurant that could serve us what we wanted. After spending nearly an hour inside, we then moved towards the beach. The climate was very favourable to the decision that we took. The wind gently swayed as though they followed a pattern. It was quite a chilly evening. Kids enjoyed collecting shells and building sand castles as usual. G, A and S were busy talking all kinds of politics around their world. I was very busy creating my dream world and trying to live there with all my imagination. In short, it was a fulfilling weekend.