Hundreds of Gods. Millions of pujas. More often than not, one hears the abject "necessity" to perform a certain puja which will bring prosperity and well being. Then days later, one hears of another puja that proffesses to the same effect. Then another, and another. It is a viscious cycle that one finds being enmeshed in all the time. One is, but, forced to wonder. Are we really 'invoking' God to bless us with success or are we getting entangled in our insecurities? Is it the 'fear' of the unknown harm that might befall us if that one puja, and many, many after that, is not performed? More the unfounded fears, more the superstitions and false beliefs associated with it. More, and interminable.
What I would like to question is this- Is God really that ruthless that He won't wish his devotees their welfare by one sincere chant of His name, one prayer- unfeigned and earnest? Are those extensive rituals and innumerable ceremonies with their attendant paraphernalia the only way to please Him? Many of us,unfortunately, still allow ourselves to be swallowed up by such preposterous ideas, drowning deeper and deeper into the abyssmal pit of retrogressive and orthodox doctrines. When will we extricate ourselves out of it? If there ever is a right time, when will that be?

How much of his own self does a man own? How often does he have to surrender to the wishes of another for the fear of being mistaken 'impolite' or 'disrespectful'? How many times is wanting to be in-charge of domains that are exculsively his own misconstrued as indications of being 'stubborn' and 'self centered'? When is free will appreciated and when is it insolent? Devotion- must one be 'directed' to its hows and whens by the whims of society or should he be unfettered, to practice, preach and even discard it if he so desires for how potent will that prayer be that has'nt come from the heart, but has been 'instructed'?

It is a sad day today. My dog, Birdie, died. He had been with us for 13 years and was the fifth member of our family.
He will surely be missed-sorely.

Uncle Sam leaves you baffled sometimes. The country that to many is the epitome of the "place they want to be in", of course is benign to visitors and soaks them in like a sponge. And this is where one encounters the biggest contradictions of all times. American people are quintessentially different from us, Indians. Americans are different from us in their approach to people, in the way they perceive family and friends...and strangers! Go to any shop and u will find complete strangers, people you would never even bump into, not even accidently, giving you smiles and acknowledging you like they've known since eternity! And that is something I commend them with. They really are friendly. Well, most of them! We, in India don't do that. Smiling at strangers, particularly men to women, is offensive for us. We like to mind our own business when we don't know who we're around! And here lies the greatest irony of the two cultures. We are apathetic to people we don't know, but we love our kith and kin- without any strings attached. Parents walking into our rooms without knocking is 'not an invasion of our privacy', like it is, here, in America. We walk into a friends place when we so like- and we don't need an appoinment for it. We arrive an hour early for dinner and we don't hear "its rude to be early"!

Americans might lead a more priviledged life, economically, than most of us do, but we are happier, much much more than them, because togetherness is what makes us happy-happy and content. It is'nt a question of "we" or "them" really, its just how different two societies can be, and how different the roads they take in life.

A painting I made some time back

IMAGINATION

History fascinates me. And so do its soulful renditions in brick and mortar-the monuments, forts and palaces remnants of a glorious past, a tragic end or simply an innocuous existence. Each stone living and breathing, dying to tell a story. A story of the fair maidens and princesses that once pranced gaily in the labrynthines of its halls, chuckling and giggling, their resplendently colourful chunris flirting effortlessly with the wind. The clanging of the anklets, the splendour of their bejewelled forms. The innumerable court intrigues, machinations at their best. The chicanery of a few, the valiance of the many. The brilliance of an artist and the dexterity of his fingers, the turning of a desolate stone into a structure of arresting magnificence. The imagination that created this grandeur, and the imagination that still keeps it alive. My imagination. Your imagination.

I am a little foxed. And I don't know how to react to the reason why some news channels think Abhinav Bindra won the gold at the Olympics. Well, ideally, one's mind would meander at the excellent training that he might have recieved or the mental strength and brilliance of the man. But no. Those might, well, be irrelevant reasons. For all that we are being to made to believe and listen to is how the "stars" were in Abhinav's Bindra's favour. How the letter A in his name has actually brought him luck. This is a time when my senses can't even respond to such derision of a person's effort, I am so dumbfounded. When will we ever view something purely with the pragmatism that it warrants. Let the man rejoice in the glory of his effort, and not the fortuity of a name!

Well, to say that addictions are easy to come by and tough to get over with will not really be expounding rocket science, but no less a truth nonetheless! I have been an addict to Orkut for about 2 years now, and I am still always glued to it! But, now I see no reason for it. There are hardly any interactions on Orkut anymore, the 20 scrap a day routine has shrunk to barely 4, the awe around it has gone and it is more of a page that must be checked everyday, rather than being actually looked forward too. To say that it has become more of a drudgery now will probably be a travesty of the entertainment it was once the fount of and neither can enthrallment be feigned further. But, loyalty does not wane off easily either and its grip is too tenacious to be fought against anyways! Time to buckle up, my friend, time to buckle up!

What am I doing right now, you ask?
Well, I was just signing into orkut before you interrupted me with your question!!

Some things don't change, do they? :D

Well, by inference I may be called a shopaholic. And by experience, a thoroughly confused one.

A typical day -

Scene 1- Hear of a massive sale happening at a favourite store. Extreme excitement at the prospect of adding a million things to your wardrobe!! (Ah! State of extreme bliss!)

Scene 2- Go to the shop and look around.

Scene 3- Look around more...

Scene 4- Look around even more

Scene 5-Continue looking around (u might have missed a small handkerchief lying in the corner of one of the shelves for all u know!)

Scene 6- Finally, when the shopkeeper begins to feel you might be a shoplifter on the prowl, go and try and 3 things that you somehow managed to like

Scene 7- Realise(rather despondently) that nothing but one dress fits you

Scene 8- Wait in the long queue for an hour to buy that one flimsy piece of excuse for a purchase

Scene 9- Pay the bill and move out with the friend who accompanied you with a " I can't believe she bought just one thing in 4 hours!!" kinda look on his face!

So, here ends the day for me as also all my chances of getting my friend to accompany me ever again, any where! Sigh!