A tag for you.

http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/my-sins-against-gender-stereotypes/
Text from ihm's blog:
If you are a woman,
Have you ever wanted something that is considered ‘manly’ ? Like a basketball, a cell phone, a dog, a camera or a new laptop? A new car or motor bike? Ever wanted to be a pilot? A doctor or not a nurse? And the manliest want of them all – The remote!
As a kid did you enjoy playing with a bat and a ball?
There was a time when books were considered ‘manly’, women authors had to pretend to be men – would you say books are still rather manly – women should want to embroider and crochet?
If you are a man,
Have you ever wanted something that only women are supposed to want – like bags, shoes, clothes, creams, perfumes, babies, flowers? A peaceful home and a happy family? Have you ever been afraid of the dark or of insects?
As a kid did you ever want to play ‘teacher-teacher’, cooking or did you like playing with a doll? Have you ever enjoyed cooking? Bought something in pink? Loved chocolates?

So here’s a tag – Please list at least ten things you have ever wanted or done which your gender is not supposed to.
The tag is called ‘My Sins against Gender-Stereotypes’. And you must tag twelve blogging friends.
************End of text from ihm's blog******************

i tagged self on this one.
Here's my list. What's yours?

1. Played football as a child. And wondered why there isnt a girls' football team.
2. Saw Dil Bol Hadippa and wondered whats the big deal abt girls playing in a boys team. Its a game, and any one can play it.
3. For a while, handled the investment portfolio of our house, incld. home loan negotiations with banks. ( You should have seen their faces)
4. Wanted to be a pilot to fly a plane (but hated maths and science)
5. Love gadgets.
6. Can read a map. Really well. Use GPS for navigation on a routine basis.
7. I genuinely like driving. Though, in all honesty, the old car was driven way better than this one is driven. And two wheelers were driven best of all.
8. Love spending time alone and cannot talk too much in general. (women are supposed to be good with words and articulate. beats me)
9. Value investing in stocks is sth i have a gut feel about. My portfolio has beat BSE sensex over the last 4 year period - at almost every interval. Its a small portfolio, but its gud.

Thats all i can think of.. whats ur list? Consider yourself tagged if u r reading this.

The Five Women Tag

Think of 5 women who are, or have been important to you. Write about them. Wish them Happy Womens Day. Chances are, they have no idea they mean so much to you! Imagine making it to the Top 5. And here is the best part - you may be pleasantly surprised at the list too!! Go ahead... do it.... please!!

Your Favorite poems tag..

So, which are your favorite poems?
Asked this question to a friend in Truth , and here is her answer:
1. Where the mind is without fear... Rabindranath Tagore
2. Home they brought her warrior dead - Tennyson
3. Main Parauna from my blog..(blush blush)
....
What's ur answer???

A tag, and a quiz

Mathew, one of my favorite writers on the blog world, has passed on a tag. Here it comes:

The Tag
Two questions from the past, present and future. Answer them and then tag your friends from the blog-o-sphere.

Yesterday
Your oldest memories...
Playing with my brother on our terrace. We were both less than 5 years of age.

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was working .. probably one of the best work places of my life. I was friends with Shraddha and Sandhya... easily the most amazing people I have ever known.. at work, or otherwise. November 1998.. oh, and working my heart out for CAT!

Today
In office
What does one do in office? ;-)

Tomorrow
What do you see yourself doing 14 years from now?
Fighting with and worrying over a 15 year old son..reading books, and doing a lot more work for Esha. Still employed (hopefully).

If you build a time capsule what would it contain?
Nothing. What we need for tomorrow we carry in our hearts.

I tag: If you have not already done this, you are tagged. :-) (As usual, i m one of the last to get tagged)

The Quiz
If you think you know a little about Indian folk arts and crafts, here is a quiz created on braingle - my current favorite place for puzzles and trivia.
Indian Folk Crafts
Tell me what you think!

Tag: These are a few of my favorite things!

This is a tag being started by me.

Some time ago, i started a post about some favorite movies that are not so often remembered any more. That post remains unfinished, but the tag is a nice extension, methinks.

The rules of the tag are:
1. Obviously, indicate the source that tagged you.
2. Write out 7 of your favorite things, that are dear to you, but are not "popular choice" any more. Categories could include, but are not limited to:
a. All time favorite book ever read.
b. All time favorite movie.
c. Best memory from the first 12 years of your life.
d. All time favorite teacher.
e. All time favorite tea time snack.
f. All time favorite piece of jewelry/family heirloom.
g. The one possession you would never part from...

Pass on the tag, as you please. 7 people would be a nice number, but these are just numbers.

Who am i tagging? The first 7 visitors, as usual! But some people who i really think should do this tag are - Chiya, Zoe, Maddie, Dharma...

Tagged!

RJ very sweetly tagged me. (btw, i really like her url).

The rules are:

1.Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2.Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3.Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4.Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Actually, the reason this tag took so long is that, there aren't perhaps 7 interesting things that i cld think up. So lets see how many come up:

1. I ADORE Hrithik Roshan. Straight 15 years get shelved off my choronological age the minute i see a poster or a picture or a film.

2. An addicted reader.

3. I do not use leather, wood, pearls or silk. The reasons will come up in another post very soon. I've been thinking of writing that post for a long time.

4. My poison is chocolate.

5. Favorite lullaby to put myself to sleep is Palkon pe chalte chalte from the movie Daayra, and my favorite lullaby for Ishaan(thats my son) is Sapno ke ghar ki... from the film Daddy.

6. Of all the things I can do(and that is an immodest,pompous list), there is only one thing that I admit to doing really well - Graphology.

7. I can eat raw bitter gourd.

Am tagging the first 7 visitors to this blog.

And the following people:
Z
Adi
Phosgene Kid
Mathew
Sifar
Dharmabum
Aurora Sky (I must change the text on the link here)

i.e., a total of 14 people tagged.

Happy Tagging people!

Aaja Nach Le review

MADHURI DIXIT ROCKS! That, pretty much, is the succinct review of the film, but a review cannot be that short, and if u want to know more, read on.

The dancing is amazing, choreography, scintillating and fabulous. If you think I am being generous with the superlatives, that’s because they are deserved. I was skeptical about Vaibhavi Merchant after Saroj Khan-Madhuri combo, but wow! She has made Madhuri do steps that we have never seen on her. As anticipated, Madhuri more than does justice to the rather difficult choreography.

The Laila Majnu production at the end deserves a very special mention, because, imho, this sequence, for perhaps the first time, brings alive the magic of theater on a film screen. The use of lighting, sequences and costumes made one forget for a while that this is not 3D theater. For that production alone, the film is worth watching.

Madhuri has never looked better in silhouette, never done more “ada”, except perhaps in that song from Anjaam – 18 baras ki kanwaari kali thi.. (see, I am a die hard Madhuri fan) and when she presents that opening shot in New York, the message is clear – I RULE!

I read someplace that the role was not conceived with Madhuri in mind. That is surprising, because only Madhuri could have brought life to this character. Only Madhuri can make Ajanta theater look like a convincing cause.

The casting director deserves kudos – the film has an amazing array of actors who have been consistently good. Not one of them disappoints.

The art director also has to his credit – the recreation of Shamli – a small town somewhere in North India – the last time I saw such amazing recreation was in Vishal Bhardwaj’s The Blue Umbrella. The Laila Majnu production at the end required considerable Art Direction, and it worked like magic!

So, where does the movie fail? In more places than one.

For starters, the storyline has more holes than a cube of cheese, so I will not even go in that direction, but 2 glaring ones refuse to stay unstated.

First, what happens to Ajanta Theater after Madhuri Dixit’s return to the US? There is, as a corporate character would say, no Succession Plan in place. By that flaw alone, the entire concept of restarting theater goes to the dogs.

The second, I am not sure what the message regarding love is. In the first part, Madhuri runs away and finds that it was a wrong decision. Worse still, her act leads to the demise of Ajanta theater. In the second half, we again find a couple falling in love during the production. Needless to mention, we do not know if love alliances are accepted now in Shamli, or will this love story lead to a second demise of the theater?

The costumes are good, well thought out and not too in your face. Madhuri could have experimented with her look, but she stuck to the pants, tight top routine throughout. Sad for her fans.

The cinematography could have done a little better. With those moves, a little use of light, creative angles and long shot-close shot balance might have produced a different result, but I was not on the sets, so take this with a pinch of salt. Perhaps, the cinematographer did bring out the best of what was on the set.

The music is less than memorable, except perhaps the title track, and the Khoobiyaan song. I loved that song! The lyrics are completely forgotten at the end of the film.

I’d give this film a rating of 3.5 on 5, and sadly, that is not for the entire team, but for individual sparks of brilliance that make this film a delight.


ये सारी फिल्म माधुरी दीक्षित के कारण ही दर्शनीय है. संक्षिप्त में, यही इस फिल्म की समीक्षा है.

फिल्म का सबसे मधुर पहलू है इस का नृत्य. वैभवी मर्चैंट के नृत्य निर्देशन और माधुरी के नृत्य से वो समा बन्धता है कि देखते ही बनता है.

फिल्म के अंत में आने वाले लैला मजनू नाटक विशेष रूप से प्रशंसनीय है क्यूंकि इस नाटक में सचमुच मंच(थियेटर) का जादू फिल्मी पर्दे पर भी उतर कर आया है. सिनेमा के प्रशंसकों को ये चित्रन बहुत समय तक शायद याद रहेगा.

माधुरी इतने समय के बाद लौट कर आयी तो हैं, पर उन के पहले ही दृश्य मे एक बात साफ हो जाती है, कि उन का मुकबला तो बहुत दूर की बात है, उन के मुकाबिल होने की बात सोचने की क्षमता भी और किसी अभिनेत्री में अभी नहीं है.

कहीं पढा था कि ये रोल माधुरी के बारे में सोच कर नही बनाया गया था. ये लेखक की खुश किस्मती है कि इस रोल को माधुरी ने निभाया. और कोइ अदाकारा इतने कमज़ोर रोल में जान डाल ही नही सकती.

फिल्म की एक और खूबी ये है कि इस में अच्छे कलाकारों की भरमार है, और उन सब ने बहुत ही बढिया अभिनय किया है. इर्फान खान, रनवीर शौरी, कोंकना, विनय पाठक, और कुनाल कपूर, आदि, सभी ने बहुत बढिया अभिनय किया है. यही कारण है कि एक बहुत ही कमज़ोर कहानी भी पर्दे पर सहनीय बन जाती है.

तो फिर इस फिल्म की ख़ामियां क्या है? काफ़ी.

सब से बडी ख़ामी इस फिल्म की कहानी है. कहानीकार और पटकथा लेखक, किसी ने मेहनत नही की है. हर कमज़ोरी हम यहां नही बता सकते, पर दो बातें गौर तलब ज़रूर हैं.

पहली, दिया के अमरीका लौट जाने के बाद अजंता का क्या होगा? कहानीकार इस पर एक दम खामोश है.

दूसरी बात ये है, कि दिया का प्रेम, जो वो खुद मानती हैं कि ग़लती थी, के कारण अजंता बन्द हो गया था. किंतु फिल्म में एक बार फिर 2 लोगों को अजंता के कारण प्रेम हो जाता है. क्या ये प्रेम शाम्ली के लोग सहर्ष स्वीकार लेंगे, या फिर इस प्रेम के कारण अजंता की एक और बार मौत होगी?

फिल्म के costume काफी ठीक ठाक हैं. संगीत 2 गानों – आजा नच ले, और खूबियां, के अलावा, ऐसा नही है कि बहुत स्मरणीय हो. गानों के बोल तो एक दम स्मरणीय नही हैं.

5 में से इस फिल्म को 3.5 point, और वो भी सारी टीम के लिये नही, उन कुछ अच्छी चीज़ों के लिये जो इस फिल्म को विशेष बनाती हैं.

I am a Minority!

I demand full minority protection complete with the benefits!

I belong to a small group called the "WTF" group. We are like this:

1. We see Arjun Singh's "I-am-Krissh-but-why-does-everyone-else-think-I-am-Dr. Dang" histrionics and go "WTF!"

2. We see a lot of new headlines in the papers and find that the myopic vision of 50 years ago on whether 2 ppl can have an inter-religious marriage or not, whether girls are old enough to decide whom to marry at the age of 16 etc.. we see reams of paper and air time wasted on these notions and go "WTF! As if these things are even worth discussing"

3. We see the K series of serials(for abt 2 minutes) during which we see the same expression captured abt 5 times and go "WTF! DD's Hum Log anyday!"

4. We see Rahul Gandhi and Aishwarya Rai trying to appear intelligent and go "WTF!"

5. We see the Sachar Committee Report that is trying to get jobs for a highly entrepreneurial community and go "WTF! Why are the real needs of the community not being addressed?"

The WTFs are a community that is not suited to living in today's India.

We are also completely unfit to watch modern television.

Protests in Kashmir

There are widespread protests in Indian Kashmir over fake encounters. The valley has come to a total standstill.

I appreciate the cause and empathise with the parents who think their children may have been victims.

My question to Kashmiris is:

Why did you not protest when:
1. Your children left homes to join militancy? For decades??
2. Your neighbours were raped, killed and driven out of their homes just because of their religion?

Why did you not protest then? Why did you not bring the valley to a standstill when the militants were touring your villages and recruiting? Did you not know that your children were going out there to kill, rape and victimise?

How many of these photographs being brandished by the protestors, and being lapped up by the media, belong to fake encounters, and how many to young people who left to join the jehad?? Who knows that?

I had no idea that the valley could talk. Wish, really do, that the valley had spoken sooner. Much, much sooner.

25 Unusual Indians

The Week, India, in the January 7, 2007 issue has done something stupendous!!

They have a Cover Story on 25 unusual Indians.
Sample this:
1. A person who uses his nose and mouth to generate enough power(electricity) to run a bike for 10 kilometers.
2. A 70 year old person who greets foreign visitors to his city and makes sure that the tourism industry cheats do not get to them, feeds them at his house often, and takes care of them as a true host would, all in the belief that it is his duty to play host to people visiting his country.
3. An old man in Bihar who developed an amphibian cycle because of the floods. Its a hit! And he designed it in 3 days!
4. The man in a village in Punjab who creates the smallest working models of several things.. then uses these miniature models to generate an interest in the science among his students - Govt. school children.
5. A boy who can twist his entire body through a badminton racquet!

What impressed me even more was the places - Hatihalka in East Midnapore(Bengal), Vijinapura (Karnataka), Shardulgarh, Ansa (Punjab), Dimapur(Nagaland), Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu), Saurikh (UP), a village perhaps too small to be named, Motihari Distt. (Bihar) , Bangalore, Ziona, Baktwang(Mizoram), Rohtak(Haryana), Hailakandi(Assam), Mettur(Tamil Nadu), Gulmarg(Kashmir).

Go Week!! JUST THE KIND OF NEWS WE NEED! All brimming with positive energy, these stories about the grits of people who did not necessarily study, came from humble backgrounds, and had only themselves to believe in or doubt.

Much less column space to the elections and the threats please.. there is a lot of good news in the world!

Online Hindi Magazine.

अभी अभी एक नयी चीज़ देखी - अनुभूति . ये एक हिन्दी पत्रिका है जो पूर्णतया नेट पर उप्लब्ध है.

आज मेरे साथ एक वाक्या हुआ. किसी क्म्पनी में फोन करने पर जैसे एक आवाज़ सभी से पूछ्ती है, कि वे हिन्दी में बात करेंगे या अंग्रेज़ी में, तो मुझसे भी पूछा गया! मैने हिन्दी चुनी, क्युंकी हम अमूमन हिन्दी ही चुनते हैं. फोन उठा और उस व्यक्ति ने तपाक से कहा, “Good Afternoon, this is ________, how may I assist you?” तो हमने भी तपाक से कहा, “__________ One, I asked for the Hindi option, and Two, ________”

पर हैरत मुझे इस बात पर हुई कि उस व्यक्ति को हिन्दी बोलने में कितनी कठिनाई हो रही थी.. और ये दिल्ली का हाल है!

Just found an online Hindi Magazine - Anubhuti . Its a gap that one has felt for quite some time.

Another interesting thing happened today. I called a call center , and like all centers, a recorded sweet voice first asked me for the language preferance. I chose Hindi, bcs i always choose Hindi. The phone was transferred and a well trained voice went "Good Afternoon, this is ________, how may I assist you?” . And rightaway yours truly went “__________ One, I asked for the Hindi option, and Two, ________” . The person, obviously embarassed, asked if I would like him to continue in Hindi, to which i responded in the affirmative.

But what struck me was his obvious difficulty with the language, in the middle of the Hindi heartland - in Delhi!!

Looking for The Week..

The Week, in the December 3 Edition, has a story of Imroz's love for Amrita... and it has 2 superb pieces of poetry... methinks both by HER..

Can someone please please lay their hands on this copy and get me those two pieces of poetry?

In the meantime, read this and you will know why one is so desperate to get that stuff..

Amrita once wrote of her love for Imroz:

kisi ka jurm ho, karte hain tere naam rakm,
Gila hai jo bhi kisi se vo tere sabab se hai..

No matter who wrongs me, the blame rests with you,
All my anger, with anyone in the world, is because of you..
(Don't bother trying to make sense of this in a rational model of love)

And this, in her own words, is the sarmaya(gist) of her life:
kuchh dard tha, jo maine cigarette ki tarah kiya hai
kuchh nazmein hain, jo raakh ki tarah jhaadi hain..

nazm kaagaz ko dekhe, aur yun munh mode,
Jaise kaagaz paraya mard ho...

You're Tagged!

Everyone who comes to this blog is now tagged.. in addition to people who are in the right bar.

What do you think my age and gender is?

And, if you want to make it more interesting: What else do you know about me from the blog?

The tag is obviously not open to people who know me personally... unless they want to tell me they've discovered my alter ego.. :-)

This blog was started anonymously because I did not want to carry the baggage of my stereotypes. If those stereotypes do not colour your view, what do you see?

PS: Don't belive Wriju's comment.. thats my alter ego according to him!!
He was good enough to spoil the party with that awfully misplaced first comment.. though Nicaragua does sound like a good place to be!!

Re. whether your guesses are right or wrong.. obviously I'll tell u in my next post!!!

Maddy Tagged me. So here goes:

I am thinking about....a lot of things, all at the same time!
I said a lot of wise words which, thankfully, no one heard!
I want a dream on a piece of the sky.
I wish for a child.
I miss a lot of people..
I hear the fan whirring in this room.
I wonder if everything in life is so gray, why do people want to live in blacks and whites?
I regret nothing.
I am ..who knows??!!
I dance when I am alone
I sing when they need to scare the cows.
I cry .. not very often, but always like the rains.. torrential.
I am not always politically correct.
I make with my hands .. lots of stuff! Mostly pottery.
I write about sorrow.
I confuse names and faces.. tremendously!
I need loving
I should try and grow up.
I start what I seldom finish.
I finish .. hmm… lets c.. Tags!!
I Tag Z, Ekta, Deepa, Nidhi, Tell me no more, Biscuit, Stellar, Nabeel.

Things to do before I Die..

.. aka, Things that will make my life VERY HAPPY!

1. Fly a plane. I mean, REALLY Fly one.. preferably, an open chopper.
2. Read all my favorite poetry.
3. Go to Kashmir. With no deadline to return. AT ALL. I might come back in a day, or a fortnight, or never.
4. Go to Machu Puchu and see the Nazca lines.
5. Go to Harappa and Mohenjo daro with my children, and hope that they will be interested.
6. Feel the magic of the Golden Temple at dawn.
7. Do a PhD.
8. Para Glide.
9. Have an Out of Body Experience. Then to have some more, till they are routine.
10. Sit all night with my friends on an open terrace, around a fire, and talk all night about existential questions and answers for all of us.
11. Spend the night with my soul mate under the full moon sky, on a bare rock by a river bed, with the river in our ears and the moon in our shut eyes.
12. Become a teacher in a residential school based in the mountains, with my family. (Both of us teach and the kids study in the school).
13. Paint.
14. Lose weight.


What's your list?