Desi

(Warning: This is kind of a serious post… and it’s pretty long too)

Recently I’ve really begun to wonder what exactly it means to be Indian.

Am I less Indian because I wear jeans? Because I don’t speak any of our languages with fluency? Is it a matter of birth? Or love for the country? Belief system? Religion?

What exactly is it that makes someone Desi?

What started me off on this train of thought was watching Bachna Ae Haseeno last Sunday.

Now I admit, I’ve always been sort of prejudiced towards Hindi movies in general, mostly because I kind of buy into the whole idea that they’re all dumb and filled with couples running in slow motion towards each other or around trees.

And yes, I do know that although that may have been true to a certain extent when I was a kid, it’s hardly the fact any longer. There are plenty of movies like that still made, but there are also lots which actually have some worth to them or are at least fun to watch.

Although it still kind of bugs me that everyone in the whole world seems to believe that Bollywood films are the sum of Indian filmmaking, completely disregarding all the other powerful Indian films that have ever been made.

But another problem for me as far as Indian movies as a whole go, is that the only language I’m fluent and comfortable in is English. And it’s a bit hard to enjoy a movie if you can’t follow the dialogue.

Ok, maybe that’s not strictly true… I had no problem watching 2 Days in Paris without subtitles, and half that movie is in French!

But I guess with Hindi movies I follow enough of the dialogue that when I can’t follow something it really throws me. And then the flow is gone and the entire experience sort of goes down the toilet.

And it’s actually somehow a little more annoying when you know that what they’re saying is probably totally pointless!

Since I watched Bachna Ae Haseeno on DVD, we had the subtitles on, and actually, from a purely fluff point of view, it was kind of fun.

There were waaaaaaay too many songs (and buggingly enough, I’ve had this one stuck in my head since watching the movie).

But other then that, a lot of the scripting was pretty smart, and the humor was quite witty.

So that made me wonder, “Am I out of touch with the things that are Indian these days? And have I ever actually been in touch with them?”

When we were kids, my sis and I never actually watched any of the Indian TV shows, or at least, I don’t remember doing so. And the only reason I’ve watched any of the movies that are considered to be Indian Film Classics (Like Kabuliwalla or the Appu Trilogy) is because we were made to watch them in school.

We were brought up on a steady diet of western literature and cultural milestones, and I never actually regretted the lack of Indian influence till I started working.

Luckily my grandmoms and school managed to plant a certain amount of Indian culture and history into my head. Enough that I’ve read the Mahabharata and the Ramayana a few times, and have a fairly decent grasp of Who Came First from the Aryans to the Brits.

But does that make me Desi?

I can cook a Full Indian Meal, and if Bend it Like Beckham is to be believed, the rest should be up to God.

But I’m not in the least bit religious! In fact, although I have a firm and unshakable belief that God certainly does exist - how else do you explain the everyday miracle of life? (And if you say science I’m just going to say “and how do you explain that existing then?” so don’t argue ok?) I’m completely and totally anti-religion. In fact, I kind of believe that if the devil did exist, religion is probably exactly the kind of thing he would come up with – after all it’s been behind some of the worst problems our world has seen!

But that is an argument for another post.

So Desi… what exactly does it mean? If our politicians are to be believed, then accepting other cultures and adopting other traditions makes us less Indian.

But what I want to know is, if we hadn’t always been such an open country, if we hadn’t been willing to accept other people, learn from them, take their knowledge and wisdom and make it our own, would we be the country we are now?

No… I really don’t think we would be.

Firstly, what is Indian? How far back do you need to go before you get to the pure Indian roots? One of the best and strongest things about our country is that it’s a total melting pot.

From the Taj Mahal to the temples at Thanjavur, from Appams to Sarson Ka Saag, our country represents everyone! So really, I’m not sure that there is any one thing that’s Indian.

“Do Not Forget Me Till Your Blood Is Red”

I swear I saw that written on the back of an auto last night on my way home from work… I have no CLUE what he was trying to say… but man… I can’t help but wonder… is he talking to his uptown girl? Is this some blue blooded reference? Or was that meant to be “Till your blood spills red upon the ground” which is a possibility… but frankly, kinda horrible.

Maybe I just shouldn't try to analyse it, auto sayings hardly EVER make sense…. For example, I’ve seen signs like “Trust A Sanke But Not A Gril” and “Lose Weight! Ask For Free Sample” and my personal favorite “Born To Bead” (I think they missed a gap and a B there)…

The problem is that it’s almost impossible to get pictures of these. Because even though traffic is always horrible, I will invariably be just a little too far away to take a cam phone pic. And if I DO get a pic (and in fact I do have one of the “Born To Bead” auto) its almost impossible to tell what it actually says!

But I shall keep trying!
Who knows… there may come a time when I’ll have just the right balance of funny, distance and lighting...

Ok... so maybe I'm not a murderer

And also, I like the way this blog looks better then my other one.

Just posted a couple of poems up on that one. I created them a month or so ago, but only just got around to putting them online. May as well put ‘em up here too. Apologies to those who read the other one as well So here goes:

Sit Awhile
Sit awhile and think.
Sit and dream of all things,
That were, and are and will be.

Sit awhile and see.
See the thought flow,
Like the play of light upon a prism.
Many streams,
From one clear contemplation.

Sit awhile.
Life is only worth
Your well thought adaptation.


Destiny
I sleep,
In this unguarded moment,
The door is open
And you tiptoe in.

So maybe they’re just dreams.
Only wishful thinking
And not the destiny they seem.

But who’s to say?
Is there some science that could divine the truth?
Or will only time tell?

Woo Hoo Hoo!!

*Jumping up and down – Tigger style*
I got my grades for the Ad film. All Ds! Oh, for those of you with different grading systems… D = Distinction. Yay me! :)
Our teacher told Paro and me that all the judges gave us Ds throughout! That means, for concept, creation, presentation, and everything else! And ‘all’ judges? That was a total of 6 people! Hehehehehehe
And I respect at least 3 of those people’s opinions. So, as you can imagine, I’m pretty happy.

Still no word back from WorldSpace though. So today I called Hari, one of the guys who first got in touch with me. He said things have been crazy at work, and he’ll talk to the other guys tomorrow and get back to me. I told him I really need to know, coz if they (or I) am not interested, I need to start looking for another job. We have to have internships by April. And I’d like to get a jump-start.

That’s about all that’s going on for now. No college, although we are supposed to have class this Friday. To go over our plans for the fiction film we still have to create. Paro and I both have ideas. Which I think are good. ;)
But Sam hasn’t even been showing up for class. So god alone knows what’s been going on with him. Kinda hope he doesn’t show. Things always get mucked up when we try to work together. Anyway, by Friday I have to write out the script for my story idea. Guess I should do that tomorrow. Not like I have anything better to do with my time anyways…

Sigh!!!! Exam time… approaches…

In exactly 12 days to be precise.
Freaking out!
Also have this semester’s Final film due on Saturday… not really in the mood to write…
So. This can just count as a trivial little update. Will have a looong philosophical monologue as my next post to make up for it. :D hehe… just kidding of course… who would want to read that!?

titleless

There’s someone stomping around above my head. Which is creepy. Coz our upstairs neighbours moved out!
Dint have college today, and dint go yesterday, coz of the rain!!! But it dint rain today… so actually, that sentence should go more like this.
Yesterday I tried to go to college. And got soaked walking up the road. Despite the fact that I had an umbrella. Thank god for cell phones… um… or who ever invented them. Which makes me wonder… who did invent cell phones? Do u know? I certainly don’t.
Anyway. As I was saying… I got soaked. Called our teacher (who, incidentally, is less then a year older then me! – and personally, I don’t think she’s at all qualified. She didn’t know who Orson Welles was!!!! our college is crap.) and told her I couldn’t turn up… then… The rain got worse. Luckily I was home and dry before that happened… but the police commissioner declared the 26th and 27th holidays for all educational facilities, coz road conditions are so bad. What with the flooding and all… today was the 26th. And it dint rain all day! so I guess we’ll have college tmrw. Coz as I said, college is crap… y cant they listen to the police commissioner? He is an authority figure after all… and he must have some idea of what he’s doing. Wait. This is India! What am I saying?! Lol… Just kidding, I’m sure he’s an excellent man and dedicated to his job…
Oh… damn. The internet just cut out… good thing I’m writing this on word… but it does mean I wont be posting again. Oh well…
Diwali holidays start next week. We get 9 days off! :) cool isn’t it… I love living in a multi-religious culture…
So… other then that, life is boring. In fact, I was so bored yesterday, that I sat ad watched Tarzan. How sad is that? It is such a crappy cartoon… but I was all alone at home, and it was raining! So naturally, a slight feeling of depression settled over me. and the only thing that helps in such a situation, is watching a really pathetic movie or cooking. And since I didn’t feel like doing the later… I sat and watched TV. Which, I should mention, is pretty much what I did today. Being on holiday is only fun if there are other people on holiday with you. Actually, Lavi had a holiday both days too… but yesterday it was all rainy and there was a massive puddle in front of her house, as in calf deep wading type puddle… so she was stuck at her place and I was stuck at mine. But today we baked :) which was fun. Made up a whole new cake recipe. Came out really well actually… so had that with ice cream… still some left. And k just about got home. She’s eating dinner right now… but when she’s done we can eat more CAKE n ICE CREAM! Yay :D

On the subject of the rain… what is WITH that!? Why are we having torrential downpours in October… seriously. This just goes to show, all u morons who thought global warming wouldn’t effect the world in our life times and therefore continued to pollute the earth without a twinge from your consciences… really brilliant move guys. Thank you sooo much for helping to decimate our home and make it that much less habitable for all the life it supports.
I think u should all go find some corner to cry in. and when u come out… go help someone!!! There are plenty of natural disasters to choose from… and almost everywhere in the world too… tragedy at your backdoors people. U cant turn a blind eye anymore… this means you! Get it now? I really wonder…

What to write?

This is officially a space killing ramble : ) u have been warned!
I’m in a good mood. Which is weird coz college really sucks, and that’s pretty much all I have time for recently. But tmrw’s a holiday! Yay! For dashera… it’s great to live in a multi-religious country. We get so many holidays! Lol… actually, having one day off isn’t really something to crow over. K and my mom have 5 whole days!!!! Lucky things… I wish I had that much free time too : ( But… not going to depress myself now… can wait till tmrw for that… he he : )
I may b a bit nuts… just an observation.
But then they do say that people who think they are crazy aren’t. and it’s the people who don’t even realise they’re acting cracked who turn out to b mad. But then how do they know that!? Maybe all the people who think they are crazy actually are, but being forewarned, have an easier time of hiding it from other people… doesn’t that make sense? Does to me… but then, maybe I’m nuts… : ) he he…
Okie… cant actually think of anything else to ramble about… not a very successful ramble is it… should be at least 12 paragraphs long to qualify! That’s what I think.
So
Lets make this twelve paras!
Lol
How am I doing?
Does this qualify as an erratic and strange ramble?
Damn…. This is still only 10…
Well… that leaves two to go. Lets make them count. Okie… what to talk about? Hmmm? Isn’t that how this started? Yep? Same old, same old… looks like I’m going in circles! Wooohooo… maybe I’ll get dizzy? Okie… more proof of the cracked thing… yes? Yes.
AT LAST! The end : ) heh heh… y exactly am I even doin this? Very good question… I could be sleeping. But NO! here I sit filling in a completely useless post… of no value or worth to anyone, including it’s author… which is a very sad case. All things considered. But then, it should be a little amusing to go back and read at some later date… primarily, that’s why I write in this thing. To amuse myself and others, with my silly trivial musings. He he… at least, it amuses me. not sure about all u other folks. Is this fun to read?
Well, whatever.
I think I’ll go to bed now… sleepy time : ) plan to cram in all the things I don’t usually get to do tmrw. Lol… probably wont b possible. So mayb I’ll keep some of them for diwali break. Which is a whole week! Yay! Bbye now.

All female planet.

Has anyone seen that really creepy movie set in the future where there are no men? The whole planet is run by women, and babies are developed not born. But there’s no war or anything bad like that, coz women are just soo much smarter and less aggressive then men…
Well. Let me just say two words. What crap!
Okaaay… so maybe we aren’t as hopped up on aggression and territorial instincts as guys. And yeah, I’m pretty sure that a world run by women would be better then the one we have right now. Considering – lets face it, and not to be horrid and sexist or anything – men are just plain dumb half the time.
Women don’t have pissing contests. We definitely didn’t come up with the idea of trying to squeeze the other guys hand harder. Or road rage. And then there’s the fact that statistically, women usually account for only about 15% of all violent crime.

Still, better doesn’t mean perfect.
Women are dumb too. We get emotional, have cat fights, act bitchy, and nag! Not exactly conducive to absolute peace and harmony. What’s more, and all u guys don’t get swelled heads over this – but giving credit where credit is due, without guys, life would be just plain boring! Men are a constant source of entertainment.
On a grand scale; they came up with football! And basketball, rugby, American football, hocky, extreme sports, action movies… the list is ENDLESS! No women is nuts enough to have thought this stuff up. Although, once they were invented many are more then happy to play.
But, lets be absolutely frank. One of the ONLY reasons any of us is willing to watch, is if there’s some pulchritude involved. No way would I watch a complete rugby game if the guys weren’t so hot.
Which is just plain weird now that I think about it. Why do women find it interesting to see guys compete? So maybe these games are relatively more sophisticated ways of doing that then actually dukeing it out… but that’s all they really are! It’s all about who’s top dog. And we LOVE it!

I guess it all comes down to instincts. Men like to fight. And women like guys to prove they’re the toughest. But it’s a lot more complicated these days then it was for the average cave man.
Most of us hate it when guys do that obvious, male posturing thing. U know what I’m talking about…
Where they eye each other up, and try to make them selves look stronger, bigger, tougher. There voices get all deep. And they shake hands in that macho idiot manner, one pump, up and down, squeezing just as hard as they can... slaves to testosterone.
And it really ticks me off when guys do that stupid possession act they all seem to learn at birth. This women is mine! I Tarzan!! Me big ape!!!!
But I’d probably be just as ticked if he didn’t do anything at all! If I’m with a guy, even if he’s just a friend, I want to know I can depend on him to take care of me. Which doesn’t mean I actually want him to take care of me... but if I should need taking care of, he has to be capable of it.

Being able to handle yourself in a fight is important, but being able to avoid the fight entirely is a much more valuable ability. Making sure other guys realise she’s taken while still letting her know u respect her independence is a fine line to walk… guys don’t have an easy time of it. And yet they constantly try. It’s amusing.
we need guys around. they add balance and provide distractions. it would be impossible to have female friends if u didn't also have male ones. who would u turn to when u actually want a solution to a problem and not just sympathy? and guys make much better shoulders to cry on... women get tired of other women after a while...

There’s no doubt about it... A world with no guys may not be as violent, but it sure wouldn’t be much fun either.

ahhh... time

he he... finally, time to post. but i'm going to keep this short coz it's 5:00a.m. and i want to go take a short nap before college. things are crazy.... the Delhi media H.O.D was here this week, her name is sangitika... anyway, she came in to sort things out. and although i'm not too sure how good a job she did, things are more settled then they were before she showed. At least we have a time table now, and are going to be starting our course work. actually we've already started, just haven't done as much of it as we should've. only started the documentary section. anyway, we're going to shoot our films and then we'll be done with that. so by oct we'll be on our way. i'm happy coz it means we'll be done by the 2nd week of December, exams and all... yay! means a huge break.
okie... should go now, give my self and the comp a break. feeling a bit hyper actually. probably due to the coffee buzzing about in my system... and the lack of sleep too. although i did get 7 hours last night! and a short 2 hr nap this afternoon :) which was pure decadence and laziness on my part... he he.
okie doke, that's all folks...
oh, and NOBODY comment on any spelling errors here... there will be sever consequences... i am in no condition to do anything about my spelling or even care. so shush. ur trivial opinions are not required. lol :)
bbye... feel free to comment if it's positive. otherwise u will have to 'give me a moment to suppress my deep hatred' he he he... bet only k knows where that's from. and now i'm just wasting time and procrastinating... which is just plain silly since the only thing i have to do now is curl up in bed! so... so long people. for the very last time tonight... erm... this morning, i mean.

The general suckyness of all things even remotely similar to life

The title should give u a clue of my current mood. Feel free to skim or just skip the following. Not like the post will be worth reading anyway…


I hate college. I want to quit. We’re doin useless boring stuff that doesn’t seem to be in the least bit connected to our syllabus. And it’s time consuming and bleh.
I just know we’re going to suffer when exam time comes around. We usually have a hard time completing our portions when we have the whole four months to do it in. and we’ve already wasted over a month. I’m sick of my classmates. I’m especially sick of parvathi. And I dislike the faculty. He doesn’t know squat. What’s worse, he cant make up his mind. I HATE HIM!!! he keeps giving us these daft, and pointless assignments and he’s NEVER clear about what exactly he wants from us. AURGH!!!
And my teeth hurt.
Why do we need wisdom teeth. My head is aching, and so is my jaw. And neck. I’m tired. But it hurts. So I cant sleep. Also I have one more damn assignment to do.
Two actually. A stupid script thing, and a slide show. The pictures I will have to take tmrw… but I don’t really even have a story idea yet. I miss having sane faculty to take problems too. Is the world conspiring against me? I’m beginning to feel like I have cause to be paranoid.

Misery does not need company, but everyone else I know seems to be having as sucky a time right now. Poor us…