Because I wished to write.

I just read an awesomely inspiring blogpost and I feel like writing something beautiful and honest.
I want to write something magical. Something that lights up the eyes of the reader.
I want to write something that comes right from my heart and reaches out to many other hearts.

I want to write about...
the sound produced on pulling the strings of a guitar
the bubbles that protrude and burst when tea boils
the relief that one feels on finally reaching home after an exhausting day at work
the clattering of teeth when the weather gets cruelly cold
the feeling I get when I step on sand and it takes the shape of my feet
how music inspires me, how the pumping beats make me want to achieve more while the soothing rhythms pacify me
the smallest of my dreams

I just want to write till the end of time.
Pen down every sight I see, every sound I hear, every emotion I feel.

I want to write not for the sake of writing, but because that is the easiest way to express myself. I want to write because I wish to create something, whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly.

I want to write to become a writer. I want to write so I learn some more. I want to write to be a better person. I want to write to inspire. I want to write to be inspired.

I want to write because I don't know if there is something else that I can ever do with such intense passion.

The Big 'Bhaang' Theory

I with my bunch had gone to Uran Beach to celebrate Holi on Sunday and we also had bhaang. It was a different experience. We actually consumed a lot of it; we should've gone slow. 

The effect was quite similar to what they show on TV. We were all delusional and hallucinating. There was puke everywhere. I couldn't eat and neither could I keep my eyes open. I was getting adrenaline pangs every now and then. I experienced an array of emotions and each one was so intense. I had never in my life felt the way I did then. Everything seemed so psychedelic.

It felt as though we were a part of some silly zombie movie.

I am not saying that I won't have it again, but I am certainly going to be careful about the quantity next time. 

Here are some things you should know when planning to have bhaang:

• Do not mix 10-12 bhaang golis in just 3 litres of thandai. 6 bhaang golis in 7-8 litres of milk/thandai or more is the right mix.
• Go slow. Don't keep chugging glass after glass like a fool. It is not beer or tequilla  
• Do not go to a beach or in a pool after having bhaang because you might pass out there and die
• Make sure you have it at some safe place so that it's okay if you doze off there. Bhaang makes you sleepy
• Always do it with a bunch of people you trust
• Keep munching and drink lots of water after you consume bhaang

You need to be careful about the decisions you make as even a small one can affect your life enormously. It is in your hands to make this festival of colors a source of joy or a reason for regret.

We just got lucky. 

Links for an Indian woman

You may have seen these videos before as they gained a lot of popularity, but I would like to share them again.

Happy Women's Day! Really?

I saw a women’s day parade happening near Ghatkopar Station on 8^th March, around 4:30 in the evening. For the first time on that day, I could feel the spirit of International Women’s Day, and was pretty happy that ladies are coming out and celebrating womanhood. 

Just 2 days after women's day, it's 9:30pm, I am walking from a friend's place towards home, and a biker pulls over near me. He asks me for an address, I guide him. As he gets ready to leave, instead of saying thank you, the guys throws a disgusting, lewd comment and speeds away.

Girls will find it disgusting, but they won't find it surprising because all of them have faced this and even worse already. Guys, on the other hand, may not justify this creep, but will ask me to be more cautious and careful.

There is worst that has happened in the past so I am really glad that this guy did not touch me and simply left after the comment. But why even that comment? Why is it so common? Why should I take it?

I know, people will agree that it is unacceptable, but we women still have to accept it! We have no other option, do we? Eve teasing, molestation, lewd comments and rapes are all a part of our society now. And it not just resides in a single part or area of the society, but is scattered all over.

I have nothing new to say. It's all been said and done. Feminists have been voicing their opinion against this. Men, on the other hand, have been constantly displaying their annoyance towards women generalizing on the basis of these dirty acts of some males.

There is so much I wish to say. There are so many emotions gushing inside me. But I choose not to say anything anymore. At least, not at the moment. Because I know it will all fall on deaf ears. No one can help me. This is going to happen to me again. This has been happening and will continue to happen with my girl friends, my mum, my sisters, my daughter and all other women I know and do not know. I can't do anything to help them. I can't do anything to help me.

These safety apps, helpline numbers, pepper spray and other little weapons are not always helpful. The ogling won't stop. If you are a female, every of your body part will be minutely examined even when when it is convered with layers of cloth, and you cannot do anything about it. There always will be lecherous eyes lurking around. Deal with it!  

Ideas, where do they come from?
This has been such an unproductive week! I am so tired and uninspired, and I am not liking that.

Listening to Hardwell On Air - Episode 157

On girls and their friendships

This entire concept of 'BFF' has been a joke with me. I have never had a friend who has been my BFF. I do have long-running friendships, which I know are going to be there with me throughout my life. But I am talking about that one best friend who knows you better than yourself, who is a part of your everyday life, just like a boyfriend/girlfriend. You will always have other close friends, but you and her share a bond that is more special. And more than anything, it's not a temporary affair.

I have had my share of failed BFF-ships until I finally concluded that maybe I am not the kind of person who can maintain consistency in any sort of relationship. But this conclusion seems like a foolish excuse for escapism.
Perhaps, you don't want to take too many efforts to save a friendship because all other relationships - like with your family and partner - require enough struggle.
Why do we take our friendships so lightly?
(I have walked out on some of my good friends in the past, and there have been some who have abandoned me. So I am not removing my frustration on anyone here in this post.)

In my social circuit, there are a couple of examples, where I've seen two girls maintaining their best-friendship over years. Their ship has been successfully sailing through the sea of changing scenarios. Touch wood.
I had met two BFFs yesterday, and I was so happy to have them around. They share this great bond, which may have taken enough efforts, I'm sure, to be the way it is, but they did it, and maybe without even realizing that they have actually taken pains for the survival of this special bond.
When people say they have never had fights and arguments with their best friends, it is because they understood that it was unnecessary and unimportant.
The rest who have survived all the misunderstandings and disagreements, must be nurturing their friendship with sufficient reassurances, security, love and expression.

Well, I feel it's a mark of being a good human if you have a 'BFF' because this kind of bond, being platonic, has the least selfishness involved, neither is there an obligation of being related by blood.

Sometimes uncertainity is good.

There really are no free lunches in life.

I can see months of uncertainity coming up, and I am glad for them.
It is better to have that thin ray of hope than having nothing at all. So I am happy, and more than that, charged up to do some mindblowing work.

It is so important that you learn a few ways of motivating yourself. 

  

That copywriter chick - 2

When the shitrail thing happened with me, I was so agitated, I wanted to tell everyone that a thing as gross as this really happens in Mumbai. I wrote a blog and published it on social media as well, and as a co-incidence a small weekly that is run by a bunch of journalism students in Delhi, contacted me for similar kind of articles. I gave them the link to my blogpost, they liked it enough to publish it in their newspaper on the next day. I shared that as well on FB and twitter, and got a good deal of appreciation for it.

People from the same field won't consider it to be an accomplishment while those not from this industry regard this as a great achievement. As for me, this is just another step towards becoming all those things that I had dreamed to be as a child and that I wish to be now.

Current Playlist:
Jolene - Miley Cyrus
Pimpin smokin dro (Hardwell mix)
If I lose myself - Alesso vs. One Republic
Thousand years - Christina Perry
Chaudhry - Amit Trivedi vs. Mame Khan
Kattey - Ram Sampat, Hard Kaur and Bhanvari Devi

Also, there was an ad contest I wanted to partake in, but I did not have a motivated team. I can write, but I can't design ads, so there went my opportunity to do some good work.
Nevertheless, I am hoping to do some good proactive work in the coming days, and I am hoping that my team actively supports me.
One other thing that I have learned now is that if you don't have an enthusiastic creative partner, you cannot think of participating in contests, let alone winning them!

I have also been doing some travel writing in the meanwhile. Waiting for it to get published now.
I have realized and am slowly accepting the fact that I am more of a writer than a copywriter. This does not mean that I am not going to be a good copywriter, it just means that I will be writing a lot of other things along with ads and marketing collateral. 

Mumbai's railway authorities, it's time you smell the shit!

11:18 PM
Thursday, 20th February, 2014
Dadar, Mumbai
The Shitrail

After meeting a friend I was returning home, waiting at Dadar station for the train to come. It arrived on time, but I got into the second class compartment despite of having a first class pass, since the first class is usually deserted during the late hours.
Since I was tired, I did not rush to get into the train unlike a few other women standing ahead of me. They held on to the handle and the pole for support, and marched into the completely empty cabin. I heard screams of disgust, and there was a rancid smell that took over suddenly. Within seconds, I noticed ladies rubbing their palms with napkins and discerned that something dirty is stuck on the door handles and the pole, so I vigilantly boarded the train with my hands in my pocket.
The foul smell worsened and so did the howling as the train started moving. As I looked around I noticed a brown substance rubbed all over the compartment. It was on every place that you could possibly touch or sit on.
What was it? Human feces. Crap. Shit. Yes!

All the ladies shifted to the first class compartment on the very next station, which took like an eternity to arrive.
A GRP helpline number was provided on one of the walls of the cabin, where I called and lodged a complaint against this horrible happening. What surprised me was the fact that the man over the phone wasn't surprised with this! Also, when I told my colleagues about this, today morning, a couple of them said they have also faced this before.


Not once before this incident had I ever felt that India is not a place to live. But after what happened yesterday, I am appalled with the state of this city and this country, I just don't feel calling this patch of land 'mine' anymore!

There have to be severe flaws in the system, otherwise how would any citizen even dare to do this kind of an act? I do not understand how some people actually rubbed their shit all over the compartment during the busy hours? Yes, busy hours because Mumbai is a city that never sleeps, right? So, 11 in the night is not really all that late.
Anyway, whatever happened to the guards that are supposed to patrol in the ladies compartment after evening? I did not see a single man in uniform there. It’s a shame for the railway authorities that they cannot prevent such acts.

I did not wish to travel by train ever as I did not know if they were going to clean it properly and sanitize it. I do not trust them anymore. But, do I have an option? I have to take the train as it is the only viable option for me to reach office. 

We, the aam janta, are helpless. Apart from lodging complaints, writing articles and spreading awareness by telling people about such incidents, what else can we do? It is the job of the government and the authorities to take care of the country, the people and the public property! They are not doing their job sincerely and we have to take the shit (quite literally now)! 

No, I am not happy to be an Indian if I have to bear this! No, I can't take it! All the politics does not help us, the people. We don't care, who gives better speeches, we want someone to give us a better India, a better place to live. The current governement is obviously doing a lousy job, and I don't see any promising candidates either. So I won't be surprised now if I find monorail or metro dipped in crap!