The advertisement on “tumhe Singapore dikhane ke liye”

Call me a gonner but I cant help but be affected by the biasness of the advertisement. I mean he s retired and nw has it easy and she has to let go of the cook, the maid (nd wht reason! tumhari exercise ho jayegi…wht abt ur exercise??). I am reminded of this moving play “Ma bhi kabhi retire hoti hai” where the mother’s role was played by the evergreen Jaya Bhaduri/ Bacchan, which taked abt the plight of women, hw their work given the least recognition is unending, no off days, no fixed hours and certainly no retirement…

And even if we forget this aspect of the advertisement then what abt “tumhe Singapore jo ghumana hai!!” as if he’s not gonna go with her and get to c the place and njy it…grrr
The part on “sirf ek baar maine kuch maanga hai, who bhi tumhare baap se tumhara haath” reminds u the grt Indian tradition of a woman’s life being decided by her father/ brother (nd mind u not just any member of the family, esp not the women)
And finally on a lighter note the way the woman reacts and lightly punches him in the upper arm was choow chweet, it’s a very typical way for women of that generation and certainly brings back wonderful childhood memories…lets say for me this nd the jingle makes it worth tolerating the advertisement…differ/ outraged/itching to say something about it, feel free to write in and I d love nothing more to hear the other side of the view, ofcrz a little less than some1 telling me tht they agree…

The perpectual question of who’s to blame

I ve had so many ppl ask me, and its not just men, why is it tht I put myself in tht position? Why did I go out late at night? Why did I go out to a more deserted section? And esp why alone? And why didn’t I take any action to avoid it? Hw am I suppose to react to it? Hw do u? am I suppose to be bowled over by the concern that is surely reflected? Yes I am, but the rebel in me keeps asking why cant I?? Why cant I go out for a long walk when the road is not infested with people running to and fro from work? Or cars that let u knw about their arrival from over a km? Why cant I njy the silence when all I can hear is me breathing hard after a run? Or the sound of the wind or the rain drops against the leaves? Nw ur gonna say we don’t live in a perfect society and we either learn to live with compromises or pay…that if u wana take the risks u shud stop complaining about the not-so-gud repercussions, well!! I hav, atleast most of the time and I knw this for sure if god forbid something happens some day the entire blame wud be paid squarely put on me for being ‘too adventurous…too daring’…
My point is I knw ppl who ve lived by the rules of the society nd still had to face it…moreover, if we don’t change nothing will….nw not every person stares when I go jogging late evening…they r getting used to and hopefully things will change for better in the future…nd I cant stop living just coz some guy thinks that its his right to do something (varying from verbal or even physical) coz she s there alone, out after dark..its like saying I ll wont go to work coz there might be a blast somewhere…I apologise to all y frnds who hav for so long tried to “ bring some sense into her” and hav failed, I appreciate ur concern, more than I ll ever be able to say but I am sorry I refuse to be another victim and stand back…atleast not on this and certainly not nw..

The whole marriage issue

Its our culture they'd say...but it gets exasperating if every one u meet feels the need to ask u "when r u getting married??" and some younger ones hav even gone ahead and said in what came out to be a very suspicious tone- "why aren’t u married yet???". I had this theory that people who have not found bliss in marriage (and I have not found 1 who has, so this means every1 who is married) keep wanting to push u towards it...why?? Here r some possible reasons running at the top of my head- 1. Coz it would make them feel better that there r others like them? 2. Coz they would not be envying u and there by easier to open up to?? 3. Or coz their silly romantic heart says "maybe its gonna be different for her??" Elders r the most difficult to evade on this, will draw u into a discussion on hw difficult it wud be to live alone and etc etc..and after moments of trying to remain out of it and feign interest and even agreement I give in.....and there goes another argument which ends with the person saying "Dont know what’s gonna happen to this gal!!"

Learning

It strange hw we can live in contradictions. one minute i am floored by the beauty of this consumerist world and wanna buy this and tht and then u c some1 a kid maybe looking longingly at the ice cream u r having or wishing she had a life like yours, or an elderly whose eyes tell u abt the world she's cn, a woman carrying half her weight on her head thinking of hw she's gonna feed her family. u stop and look and sometimes even think abt it for a while, sometimes even the day after and then the person fades away and u r back to ur world where ur thoughts r predominated with buying (and a news paper article told me we women think as much abt shopping as men abt sex...so hopefully u guys can understand our complusion a bt better).

Its all hapening around u and dont knw wht to do. As a kid u read abt fairies and hw with a flick from the magic wand wud make all wrong right, u and i dont hav tht wand, no one does. its hard to accept tht u cant change things, thought i was getting there i.e learning to accept my limitations but then u c face in the crowd tht touches ur heart nd whoooshhh goes all ur progress......

Travel Apprehensions

leaving tommorow and despite so many hurdles and a feeling in the gut saying something will happen, somethng tht will make us not go there....but i ll leave in a short while to get the train tickets so i am assuming tht means we r going....yippie...as for the place its in midnapore- Jhargram....the problem??? its has seen its share of Naxal movement and every1 who hears where we r going cant help but ask.."wht!! why there? there r so many other places?"

I wont deny that they hav managed to put a slight fear in me, yes I am slightly worried ( i can see the reaction it ll bring on the faces of the people who hav thought of me as a adventurous kinda person, not really scared)...but i ve left things to fate, i knw i knw its skepticism

Anticipation

anticipation of the joy is so much fun, it lights up the face and the eyes. with the Puja holidays around the corner and ysterday being the last working day, every one was well dressed up and happy (except some of us who were gumpy that the holidays meant meeting deadlines which we knew we d find it difficult to meet). Looking at these happy faces i was envious and kinda felt left out of the puja spirit. on my way back home on half empty roads lit up made me feel notalgic and a bit sad. dont know why but thts wht pujas always invoke in me, even if its for a short while. is it coz i no longer feel excited as i used? tht i cant wait to get out of the city? or is the huge loudspeaker they put up in front of my window that blares at uncanny times, making anything else but irritation impossible.
flooded with memories and surrounded by happy, excited faces, children playing with guns (with Cap in it) i feel as if too much has passed and i ve grown up too fast....