It's barely been 48 hours since I left home and already I've crossed so many state boundaries I feel like a fugitive on the run!! To be very very honest I don't think in my sleep deprived state I would have ever been able to tell one winding road from another had it not been for one of those Eureka moments where your brain groggily wakes from its slumber (So fine!! I'm not Archimedes, you know!!) and says, "wait, I thought Guwahati was in Assam... and... and Shillong... well ...
wasn't..."
So OK, I'm not very... umm... updated... ahem... in my North-Eastern politics... however, I do believe late is better than never... so there. So here I sit, having combated the absolute mayhem of Guwahati's streets (which, by the way, is Assam's capital... though trust me you'd never guess!!) and it occurs to me that a city's roads really speak volumes about it! And not just in the "my-god-the-municipal-corporation-here-really-must-make-a-lot-of-money!" way.
Now I'd always been a believer that roads and traffic pretty much anywhere in India remains more or less the same. It's a part of the national feeling that is India,you see. But it seems I was quite mistaken. There is more to the story...
For instance here's what an average street anywhere in Guwahati looks like... to begin with, as all Indian roads, it's imperative that all forms of possible things on which human beings can travel must be on the same road at the same time. And, of course, like all self-respecting citizens of this socialist, secular, democratic republic we the people vociferously demand our due... especially when unneccesary! A road WILL be not a square inch over 4 feet wide but there will be all of the biggest vehicles sold in this country that demand their legitimate space on it ("Tere baap ki sadak hai kya???"). And, of course, nobody will give an inch and Everybody but everybody will honk and protest angrily! By the time you get through all of that you feel like much the poor road must. ...
Now in Shillong I notice a very different... and I must say not unhappy phenomenon unfold. It's a saturday morning, the clouds have slowly drifted on to the road and settled down much like moody cud-chewing cows would, anywhere else in India. As for the human population... well, it seems Shillong moves in the back of taxis... only. There seems to be hundreds of these little black and red Maruti 800s that dot the winding streets of the hill city, each one, without exception, filled to bursting - and each one seeming to tell its own story. While in most you'll find sassily dressed teeneagers packed like a can of... well... very stylish sardines; there'll be a slightly lesser number of those that hold just as "closely-knitted" families. And there's ALWAYS a traffic jam; a miles-long line of patiently waiting little motored lady-birds... and nobody EVER honks and if they complain they must do it very very softly... It's almost incredible and endlessly fascinating to me as I sat in one of these interminable ques waiting for whatever divine force was causing the jam to just give. ...
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The printed word... my first love and my only talent. I hope. Not for the only part of it but for the talent part of it. So if you love to read or write (no matter what) hop on and tell us more. If you don't__ now's a good time to start!! :) And if you can aid me in my cause, please don't go!! You're the one I've been looking for!!
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Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse ... the dirty water slowly seeps into the cracks in the earth, dripping through and finding itself a home in the world of the underground - the dirty water in this case being your life, of course. Or mine, to be more specific.
I remember the blissful time a few days back when in a casual rant to a friend I’d whined that something in my life had just got to give! And it did. Without any warning, one fine day the floor just gave way with a resounding crash, leaving behind a gaping splintered hole, a bottomless pit beneath and me sitting by the side of it wondering, what the hell do I do now??
Because, let me assure you, gaping holes in the floor are very hard to explain to the insurance guys. Not that you can blame them. I mean, if you plead Act of God any mortal would wonder what the hell you did to piss God off like that! Sigh... so there we are - me and the hole that used to be my floor. And we just stare at each other waiting for the guys who can actually handle this stuff to turn up and do their job.
Though, I must say the neighbours are being very nice. Really, in times like these you just recognise which people are your friends and which ones are just in for the ride, don’t you? And of course, who are the ones you’d never thought about before. ...
Anyway, I’m sure there’s a lesson in here somewhere. I don’t mean the piles of them cluttering up the desk space of my life as if they were free flyers. I mean that under all this crap the real reason all this is happening is hiding somewhere.
Aha! I got it! On this little slip of tattered paper which says ... let me see ... ‘learn to be thankful’. Hmm ... wow ... yes, that could be it, I guess. I just wasn’t thankful enough for all the good things in my life; for everything that was going right or well or even not so bad, you know! I spent all my time trying to set it all right, make it all go my way. But who’s to say that was the right way?
Who says I have all the answers, or any answers at all? May be I don’t really know anything, and everything that happens is for the best. And may be ... sometimes ... other people do know better than me. ... And why, why can’t I just sometimes ‘stand and stare’ rather that run after the other pasture? Why?? It’s as though I like worrying or something!!
What’s that you asked? What am I thankful for now? Well, I don’t know now, do I? I’ve got to get through this mess first, haven’t I? Really,people!!
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So, I was reading this post on Michy's blog (for the uninitiated ... follow the link!) about ... well ... blogging. And what she was doing was basically recommending that writers ought to blog for several very sound reasons, you know. One of them being that it builds contacts and puts you out into the public eye. A logical conclusion in itself ... IF there is anybody apart from yourself reading your blog that is!! But for the rest of us mere mortals ... well, it's ridiculous, isn't it? As if I don't spend enough time reading my own writing otherwise! So what purpose does this space even serve (aside from cluttering up cyberspace, that is)? (AND) Aside from remaining a(n)(unfortunately) rather personal diary ... sigh ... but then I make myself feel better by telling myself that someday when I am a writer whose works have been read by more than a grand total of one person I will look back to this blog with nostalgia. ... now if only wishes were horses!!
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The world is your oyster ...
if you're not concerned with survival. ...
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The Printed Word!!http://www.care2.com/next/395494117/282929572
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I was floating through cyberspace today and ... you know how you tend to start at one site and then before you know what's happening and quite how it happened you find yourself somewhere else entirely? Well, pretty much the same way I found myself on the teenshealth site ... now I'm not really a teenager any more so I technically had no business being there but then I figured, you know, since I intend to write books for them it would probably be a good idea to see what teenagers nowadays are saying. ... and I find they're pretty much the same things we were talking about only vastly different in magnitude already. And I really liked the site ... so, I thought I'd provide a link here to it.
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My last post gave me this idea of compiling a list of the most incredible experiences of my___ I must admit, woefully short, and some would say, extremely inexperienced ___ life. But what the heck! it sounded like a good idea so ... here goes nothing ...
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Watching Avatar just knocked off snorkelling in the Andaman seas as the most incredible experience of my life!
Director James Cameron’s next had long been touted as the revolution that awaits cinema. As far as I’m concerned it has been that and much more. ... I have often heard people talk of experiences that cannot be described in words. Me ... I’ve never had that problem ... until now.
From almost the first scene and definitely from the time they welcome you to Pandora, the movie draws you into a world you have never even imagined. And through the next (intermission-less) 2-and-a-half hours it makes you a part of people who look... well, like humans that took a turn-off somewhere along evolution. It makes you a part of their yearnings, their strange rituals, and their fight against the “sky people”. And after watching the movie calling them even remotely ‘human’ sounds like an insult.
Without once showing images of a man-destroyed earth ... or, indeed, of earth at all ... the movie manages to send out a powerful message and a very lucid image of what we’re doing to our planet. And will probably do to anything that comes our way.
But that apart, for those who haven’t seen the movie or so far haven’t yet intended to ... watch it ... for an experience that transcends mere movie-watching ... and for something that is nothing short of an experience.
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This is from an e mail I received...while I do not take responsibility for the source or authenticity of the claims it is a pretty shocking story.... Denmark is a big shame. The sea is stained in red and it’s not because of the climate effects of nature. It's because of the cruelty that the human beings (apparently civilised) kill hundreds of the famous and intelligent Calderon dolphins. This happens every year in Feroe iland in Denmark . In this slaughter the main participants are young teens. WHY? In this big celebration, nothing is missing for the fun. Everyone is participating in one way or the other, killing or looking at the cruelty “supporting like a spectator” They don’t die instantly; they are cut 1, 2 or 3 times with thick hocks. And at that time the dolphins produce a grim extremely compatible with the cry of a new born child.
new thought....
I think I'm going mad...
English is a very “phunny” language indeed! Guys, these are simple words we’ve been using all our lives without realising their idiosyncrasies. (At the risk of sounding absolutely ignorant) Let me know if you caught these.... I. a ‘Row’ing affair.... There are many things I’ve learnt this past week and one of the most important lessons has been about this word above.... ‘row’ not affair... Now call me an ignoramus if you will but I did not know the number of pronunciations this one little word was caught in! I’ve simple been going through my life presuming the word ‘row’ was pronounced the same way irrespective of the context of use. But apparently my education has been sadly incomplete! (another thing I have to thank Ms JK ‘Row’ling for...row as in ‘row’ing a boat). For example, did you know that you put things in a row (as in ‘rou’) the same way you ‘row’ a boat but you have a ‘row’ with somebody (as in ‘rau’)!! So JKR is in fact pronounced as “Rolling”.... I DID NOT know that!! L
I. Am. On. Top. Of. The. World!!!
I live in the world of children.....uncomplicated, dynamic and magical!!
But then again what's the point of knowing all that? It's not like it's of any practical importance in today's world.... I think it was Bhagat Singh who’d said the words I’d read as a young kid in school that very poignantly said (pls try a little to get this cos the words pretty much lose their effect in any language apart from hindi): “Shaheedon ki chitaon par lagenge har baras mele, Watan par mar mit walon ka yahi baaki nishan hoga....” It was true then and it is true today. Brave, I would say is the man who chooses to die for his country despite knowing this. But today, as very often before, I wonder, what is the meaning of patriotism in this age of independence? (Annual Independence Day quiz!!) Today it is the honour or otherwise of the select few we call the security forces to die for our country. And that can hardly be presumed to mean that we all sign up for it! So what do I have to do today to show my love for my motherland? Or may be it’s a question of who I have to be....? But today.... I find myself choosing not to wonder....today i want to be a cliche. I only want to step back and salute the Brave and be devoutly thankful to those who died so that I may get the chance to live this day. Today, irrespective of what it means to be one, I want to be proud to be an Indian. And today, my hopes, dreams and prayers for India resound in Tagore’s words... “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake....”
It was a big day for PB. The proverbial bird was finally ready to fly the cage....To join the federations of Big Flying Birds; to chase its dreams; to soar!!
Save MY Soul rather.....
Thought evoking stuff, poetry (or at least it is when you manage to understand it). For instance I, today came across one on a writer’s site I’m a member of and it gave me something to chew over..... Have you ever wondered about our attitude as a society towards guns? We live in a civilization that is a by-product of centuries of violence. Our weapons have evolved to a level of very pleasing sophistication indeed and we’ve in fact become so fond of them that today if I had to buy a gift for my 5 yr-old nephew I’d just run along to the nearest toy store, buy this funky looking gun, gift wrap it, smile and say “happy birthday!” (LOL! What. An. Irony.) He looks at it in wide-eyed wonder, presses the trigger. It’s all metallic hue and flashing lights, his latest toy. And beaming, I pat myself on the back and think myself so clever as I watch the little scamp pointing the gun at random people__ threatening them, irritating them, using it to draw attention, to get his way. Behold World, another child has discovered a gun! He knows what it stands for and how to use it before he’s even learnt to use a pen. What a proud moment! Years from now he’ll be sitting with his friends discussing the latest addition to the world’s arsenal__ its speed and accuracy, without once sparing a thought for the fact that it’s a Weapon. Meant To Kill. A Living Being. Sigh... on with the global warming I say. It’s a much better way to die.
Had a conversation with a friend today about a topic i feel very strongly about___ the environment.
Inspiration ebbs and flows... :(
Testing the waters.... slowly dip one toe to check the temperature of the water. Hmm.... not bad___comfortable. Ok this is it... i think i'm ready to step in.... slowly.
To show that they are adults and mature....!!!
Is it necessary to mention that the dolphin calderon, like all the other species of dolphins, it’s near instinction and they get near men to play and interact. In a way of PURE friendship
But he suffers and there’s no compassion till this sweet
By: Sharmistha,
on 9/26/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 9/26/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 9/24/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 9/9/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 9/9/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 8/15/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 8/12/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 8/9/2009
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No prizes for guessing what the latest Indian obsession is....all hail the swine of all flus!!
By: Sharmistha,
on 7/30/2009
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Am beginning to think this whole civilization thing is a little warped.... you know what i mean? OK may be not. Thing is who decides what civilization means? I mean, whose idea of civilization are we talking about?
By: Sharmistha,
on 7/25/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 7/22/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 7/8/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 7/7/2009
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By: Sharmistha,
on 7/6/2009
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