As I sat down to read the news today, I was shocked and sickened by the many news stories that were splashed right in front of me. They are not stories that might have reached the headlines or the ones which get all the coverage…but still their very nature disorientated me.

One such case was the selling of babies to foreign nationals by an agency called Preet Mandir. The starting few lines of the article sent a chill running down my spine.

“At an adoption center in Pune, babies are on sale - readymade and off the shelf.”

What are we getting ourselves into? Humanity seems to have taken a hike!! How can anyone in their right mind sell babies without taking into account any of the adoption laws currently prevalent in the country? Have we lost our sense of compassion? Don’t such things anger us any more?

Another issue that I came across was the case of “Female Foeticide”.

CNN-IBN quotes:

A study on female foeticide in India that has been published by renowned British medical journal, Lancet, states that since 1994, over 1 crore - 10 million - female foetuses have been aborted in the country.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg, the situation is much worse. More and more people today can afford an ultrasound and also to pay for the abortion of a girl child. It’s a mass crime perpetuated by the medical community,”

But is it right to blame the medical community for something which clearly isn’t their fault? Why hasn’t the real perpetuator been punished for such heinous crimes?

As I grapple with the many thoughts & questions running in my mind right now…I hope that some day, not long from now, I’ll not need to think so much about such things, coz such things would no longer happen. Now that’s some wishful thinking!!!

There are a few things you need to know about me –

• I have a thing for older men.

• I completely and totally adore James Blunt.

• I think that Christopher Reeve makes a better superman than Brandon Routh.

• I love the rain. It does strange things to me.

• I have theories on just about everything in this whole wide world.

And today I have this strong urge to share with you one of my most persuasive theories of all time — “The Great Classification Theory”…

The Pretenders: 

Characteristics: Pretend to know the entire top-notch, page 3 crowd. Act as if you are worth nothing. Phony to the bone.

Punch line: He/she is a very close friend of mine. We get along fabulously.

Sample Conversation: 

Pretender: Hey sweetie…wassup?? Watchya been doing all these days…haven’t seen you around for quite a while now…weren’t you at Priya’s party last night.

Me: *clearly frustrated* I wasn’t at Priya’s party. I don’t think there was a party in the first place. Priya and I were having a quite dinner at the Waterfront.

P: *fumbling for a bit* Ahhh…must have been the day before then…see…I go to so many of them…I have lost track these days!!

Me: *cold stare*

P: *Time to change topic* Do you know this new guy who has come into town? The one who works for Microsoft and all?! Fabulous guy, I tell you…I’ll introduce you to him sometime, you’ll fall in love. We hang out together most of the time.

Me: *surprised* Are you talking bout
Roy?! I’ve met him, nice chap…I don’t remember him mentioning you though. *Final nail in the coffin. Now watch him run and how. Ha ha)

P: Alright then, I’ll catch ya sometime later…bu bye sweets, meet ya tonight at Liquids.

Me: *Like duh*

Do’s:

Do all you can to tell them that you know they are all “fake”. Though they will pretend like they didn’t hear ya!!!

Don’ts:

Keep your mouth shut when they say something that you know is a lie…if u don’t speak up then, they’ll continue their tirade and there will be no escape for you.

The Social Clingers: 

Characteristics: Clingy, will never leave you alone, no amount of sarcasm will help, not even very strong hints will work.

Punch line: Can I come along too?

Sample Conversation: 

Social Clinger: Hey, what r u upto this weekend?

Me: Nuthing much, the usual. There’s this party to look forward to though.*Oh damn…why did I say that?!! I’m soooo dumb*

SC: *gleeful eyes* Can I come along too?

Me: I’ll have to check with the host. Dunno if it’s an open to all thingie. *rapidly looking around for an “Exit” sign*

SC: Puleeeeezzzz… *”the puss in boots in Shrek” look*

Me: Alright, alright, I’ll take you along. *there’s no escape. I’m so dead*

At the party:

SC: Don’t leave me alone, I hardly know anyone here.

Me: I know everyone, I need to mingle.*sarcasm…why can’t some people get it ever?!!!*

SC: I’ll follow you around.

Me: *thinking deeply and regretting having got SC along* God save me.

After the party:

SC: What are you doing tomorrow? Can I come along too?

Me: *runs away never to return again*

Don’ts:

Never mention your itinerary to them. Their natural tendency is to ask if they can come along.

Do’s:

Keep away!!!

The Oglers: 

Characteristics: Also known as the chest talkers. They manage to find all the corny pick-up lines and then even try to use a few on you. Extremely persistent.

Punch line: You. Me. Whipped cream. Handcuffs. Any questions?

Sample Conversation: 

Ogler: Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?

Me: Can’t you think of anything more original than that?

O: Hi, I'm Mr. Right. Someone said you were looking for me.

Me: *clearly amused, really wanna check out how many he can come up with*

Me: That’s about the best you can do?

O: Can I buy you a drink or do you just want the money?

Me: *Alright, I was the one who asked for it…now its time to beat a hasty retreat*

Me: *Pretending to wave to a friend* Ok O, it was nice meeting you, hope I don’t bump into you again!!*run*

Do’s:

Seriously…don’t do anything, just run!

Don’ts:

Never egg on an Ogler; you have no idea what you are getting yourself into!

I see that this has got to be very lengthy for a single post...will prolly list out the rest in another post soon.

I aint a big fan of reality TV, but one show that I was hooked onto was Indian Idol...I appreciate people who can sing well, considering I’m not very good at it myself :) < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Some weeks ago, or well, months ago I think, wait…my time sense is skewed, heck...New Years Eve feels like a few days old to me!! I guess I’m moving too slow relative to time…yeah, whatever…so where was I? Alright, so I happened to see the grand finale of the show, the fight to stardom between NC Karunya and Sandeep Acharya, Karunya being the pre-event favorite & clearly the better singer of the two. No, I’m not saying it because he’s a Hyderabadi; I’m saying it because it’s the fact. Sandeep was the underdog all along.

The result startled me...Sandeep won, my heart broke. Why does the junta empathize with the underdog? Why doesn’t it support the strong and the deserving? Someone who deserves accolades should win, not someone who strives on sympathy...

Maybe this trait of sympathizing with the underdog has been ingrained in us for way too long.

David Vs Goliath.

Goliath was massive; everyone knew that. He was as mighty as he was massive.

The Israelites quaked before him and despaired that “He’s too big to hit”.

And David said: “If Goliath is that big, then he’s too big to miss”.

And then he hit him with his now legendary slingshot.

Pure arrogance...and maybe this is where the whole sympathizing with the underdog story began.

History gives us way too many examples of this phenomenon. The Battle of Salamis, the Great Siege of < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Malta...all classic illustrations of the underdog’s win over the favorite.

If Goliath had crushed David to death, would history have recorded the story with so much exuberance? I don’t think so...

            |

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            V

(Which should have actually happened, considering it was the natural course of action…a giant is supposed to crush someone who is 1/10^th his size and might, it would be taken as a brains vs. brawns story, but it’ll forever be immortalized as the first and most important Underdog win in history.)

Picture this: A Wimbledon match --- A high seed is up against someone who’s received a wildcard entry, and who does the crowd cheer for??...Yeah, you guessed it right... “The Underdog”.

It’s been this way forever, in sports, in politics...almost every other field!!

Can someone please tell me why this happens?? I just don’t get it...

Never has a book or movie evoked in me as much passion and rage as “V for Vendetta” has.

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Watching the movie gives me a sense of righteousness like never before. A feeling of overwhelming helplessness engulfs me every time I watch the movie and hear the BTN broadcast speech [1]. Though every inch of me so believes in V’s philosophy of, “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people”, I regret my inability of being a driving force in a rebellion, and I regret that I have just remained a mere spectator to the atrocities of the modern age. While V wearing his Guy Fawkes [2] mask brings to the present, a 400 yr old rebellion, violence and revolution.[His mask by the way, has a perpetual grin on it, V’s only expression, the expression to which you always end up associating him with, whether it’s the most comic moment (there were quite a few typical V dry humor moments) of the movie or the most tragic one.]

To others “V” might just be a terrorist, but to me he is a true hero. You may argue that V is just fiction. Yes, I totally agree with you on that. But I’ll have to tell you that V is more than just a person or a bunch of ideas, he is a force that puts those ideas into action and implements them ruthlessly. Through his callousness, he accomplishes what most of us don’t even have the conviction to attempt. Through his conviction he tells us that such things as insurgence are very much possible for mere mortals like us. Isn’t that admirable?

Somehow the whole concept of “ideas being more powerful than the physical [3]” puts me into a deep thought mode. In one of the scenes in the movie, Evey Hammond says – “V, whoever you are isn't as big as the idea of you. Your foes assumed you sought revenge upon their flesh alone, but you did not stop there... you gored their ideology as well”. And this is what V is all about. He is not your average super-hero who goes about rounding off the villains. He is on a higher-plateau than any super-hero can ever reach. Though there is a lot of blood shed (sometimes unnecessary), though his actions are extreme, he makes it clear that this is what is necessary to awaken a nation to revolt. And the movie shows various samples of his philosophy [4].

Other things that continue to amaze me are V’s exquisite taste in decorating the interiors of his hidden lair, which he calls “The Shadow Gallery” and the fact that he grows special roses in memory of Valerie [5].

I’m so enamored by his charisma that I plan to understand him better and probably write a series of posts on him. This will be the first of a series of odes to V and the person that he is.

Next : Who is V really? What does his name represent? How did Alan Moore come to create a character like him?  

[1] V: “Today, however, is a day, sadly, no longer remembered. So, I thought we could mark this November the 5th by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. Of course, there are those who do not want us to speak. I suspect, even now, orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns are racing to this station. But regardless of what weapons they try to use to effect silence, words will always retain their power. Words are the means to meaning, and for some, the annunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country.”

[3] Evey Hammond: “We are told to remember the idea, not the man. Because a man can fail. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them; and die defending them. But you cannot touch an idea, cannot hold it or kiss it. An idea does not bleed, it cannot feel pain, and it does not love. And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man. A man who made me remember the fifth of November. A man I will never forget.”

[4] V: “A building is nothing more than a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. A symbol, in and of itself is powerless, but with enough people behind it, blowing up a building can change the world.”

[5] Valerie: A lesbian who was imprisoned at Larkhill, she resided in cell IV and wrote letters to V before her death.

With excerpts from Wikipedia and the V for Vendetta Shrine.

I understand that this is how its all supposed to start...I give a brief insight into who I am and you revert back to me with a few comments saying “Welcome”, “First blog eh?”, “Nice” , “Not so nice”, “Did someone tell you that you cant write??? Coz they damn well were right!!”

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Yeah, well...seen it all before & I can’t believe I’m still trying.

Will keep it short, I’m not good at these “this is how I am” kinda pieces ---

"Sudden mood swings, shopoholic tendencies, sarcasm, love for animals, respect for people who believe in themselves, unrequited feelings, and a million disasters" --- that about sums me up!

I wrote when I was 8, in my notebook, in my scrawny illegible, just learnt cursive. I wrote about the world around me, about the vacations I had been to, the way I got beaten up at school by my teacher. I wrote because I wanted everyone to read it and tell me how beautiful my imagination was. No one wanted to read.

I wrote when I was 14, in my diary, its pages full of floating hearts. I wrote about the guy I had a crush on since I was 10, about how he broke my heart. I wrote because I wanted to pour my heart out, I wanted no one to read it. My mom read it and grounded me for a month.

I wrote when I was 21, on my answer sheet, thin paper that blotted as soon as I put my brand new parker to it. I wrote about what I had learnt in college and what I had unlearnt in life. I wrote because I had to. I really didn’t care if anyone read it or not. I just wanted to pass the b***** exams.

I write now because I want to, not because I should. I write now because it’s the only thing that keeps me sane. I write for myself and that’s how I intend to keep it.

And thus saying I rest my case...

Don’t judge me.