Rambling which led to a post about feminism

I'll jump straight to the subject matter of this post, which is....
which is...

which is...

I guess I'll just start rambling, since there seems to be no subject matter :-|

I've been learning driving...if sitting in the driver's seat and gripping the steering wheel so hard your knuckles turn white, instead of actually steering it, and braking at the slightest of flutters in the traffic around you can be called , er, driving! Anyways, it's becoming less stressful and more enjoyable with every passing day.

I've already endured 5 shouted abuses, and 106 disdainful glares from male co-drivers on the Indian roads in my 15 hours spent in the drivers seat so far. Hah, I am sure you can't beat my stats :D  Also, not to mention the, uh, *gentle* nudge on the arm I gave to a gentleman with my car. He was quite forgiving about it, so no worries there. I told you no one can beat my stats!

After reading this post, if everyone I know refuses to ride in my car, I'll understand. I would too, in your place.

In other updates, reading about Beyonce's Mrs. Carter World Tour, has had me re watching a lot of her videos, since (sadly) she's unlikely to come to India anytime soon. And also because with the NEET results nowhere in sight, I have a lot of time to waste. Her presence on stage leaves me in sheer awe. Watch this video, if you have a lot of time to waste like me, in order to understand the woman, her prowess, and why feminism suits her so much.

And that brings us to the topic of feminism. Now this is a concept equally loved and hated. Look at these examples:

How difficult is it to understand that feminism DOESN'T mean not hitting a woman back if she hits you. If a woman is out to kill you, yes, you got to save yourself!

I have realized that many men, especially young Indians, have their views on feminism that are somewhat like this: "All women are b@#%$#s. They ruin our lives, they break our hearts, they take advantage of us whenever needed, and they are hardly the hapless beings they portray themselves to be. They always get the easy way out. And then they propagate this feminism! As if we don't have enough to deal with already! They are the last people who need any help in surviving. Because they trample all over us whenever they need to anyways!"

I hear you, I do, but feminism ISN'T about her, that woman who may have manipulated you, taken advantage of you, cheated on you, or whatever they did to you! No! I am sorry if some woman did something bad to you, but that doesn't change or take away what millions of women have to go through, around the world, everyday, at the hands of men.

Read this, and try to understand:

 

Source: here

You still don't think feminism is needed? Go talk to the next girl you meet, and ask her. No matter how educated and privileged she may be, if she is an Indian, she has probably faced sexual discrimination in at least some form on more than one instance in her life.

Anyways, here's what I need feminism for:

1. Being told, after doing well in a college viva, that it was probably only because I am female and good looking, and the examiner was male.
2. Being told, that it is every girl's duty to excel at household work, while it is derogatory for a male to do the very same household work.
3. Having been eve-teased and groped even before I turned 15.
4. Being scared to use public transport when I am well-dressed and alone.

These are just some of my personal reasons. I am sure millions of women around the world have millions of reasons why they support feminism, most of them much, much more serious than mine. Feminism is justified, and needed. It's time for us to understand and accept that, and stop cracking jokes on the subject.

Moving on, here's a couple of petitions for you to sign regarding the NEET PG case:

Petition 1
Petition 2

Let's all hope the end to this nightmare is near. And let's all hope it doesn't end with yet another nightmare.

I will continue my rambles in the next post, now signing off.

Let me know in the comments your views about feminism, and if you're a girl, any reasons why you may need feminism, or the reasons why you are against it. 

My favourite cinematic moments

I had a great day compiling this list and getting nostalgic about all these movies and watching a ton of YouTube videos. You, however, will need to have some time on hand to enjoy this list.

In no particular order, for your viewing pleasure:

1. "Nobody puts baby in a corner" - Dirty Dancing

The first video is a very poor print but the only one with the dialogue that I could find. Patrick Swayze walks in, pulls Baby out of the corner, mouths the now very famous dialogue, and then goes on stage to make a speech about how she has made him a better man.

For the actual dance sequence, here's another video, better quality. I can't tell you how much I love watching this sequence on just random days and how happy the song makes me. Jennifer Grey (Baby) dances like a dream, and of course there's Patrick Swayze, and do note the moment in the video when he jumps off the stage and proceeds to dance like a God. Need I say more?

2. "I carry your heart" - In Her Shoes

Randomly saw this movie on TV one day, and that's the first time I heard this poem. Unforgettable moment, she does read it very well. Somehow the only good video of this on youtube cannot be embedded.

Click here

3. "And my fear is..." - Stepmom

This has to be the greatest tearjerker ever written in cinematic history. It's definitely my favorite. And yes, never fails to make me cry.  The mom who's dying, the stepmom-to-be who's scared, and how they reconcile with each other and their fates. Here they are discussing their daughter's wedding day in the future, when only one of them will be there with her.

4. "You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how" - Gone With The Wind

What a thing to say, and what better hero to say it, and what better heroine to say it to! ;)

5. Simba is born - Lion King

One of my very best childhood memories is watching this movie in the theater. Definitely a very special movie. The animation in this particular scene is very grand and awe - inspiring, in true Walt Disney tradition of old. 

6. " You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain" - The Dark Knight

The movie that garnered a massive fan base and reached legendary status, starring probably the most loved villain on celluloid in the past decade.And what a fabulous scene. The stuff great superhero movies are made of.

7. "Take off your shirt" - Crazy, Stupid Love

In an equally hilarious and endearing scene, a drunk Emma Stone is determined to sleep with Ryan Gosling after finally breaking up with her not-worthy boyfriend. Of course, any scene where Ryan Gosling is told to take his shirt off was definitely going to come on to this list. Also, if you saw both the videos at the start of this list, you will immediately understand the Dirty Dancing reference :D

8. "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" - Notting Hill

A scene which always gets the audience rooting for Julia Roberts. I mean, come on, doesn't it melt your heart? Don't deny it. I also quite love it when Hugh Grant says "buggered" in that perfect English accent.

9. "You see things, and you understand. You're a wallflower" - Perks Of Being A Wallflower

One of the best movies I've seen recently. You know when you watch something and immediately develop this warm feeling and a tiny smile? This was that scene!

 

10. Boombox scene - Say Anything

You wake up to your boyfriend standing outside your window trying to make up for a fight...like that. <3

 

11. "The point was I had a sister, and she was fantastic" - My Sister's Keeper

This line has always stayed with me, as has the movie. Family drama and tragedy at it's best.

12. "I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore" - Twilight

There's no denying that some of the lines Stephenie Meyer wrote were very good, and at times those lines actually didn't get butchered by Rob and Kirsten. Anyways, poor acting doesn't stop me from liking the movie. It's irrational, but when you like something, you just do.

Hope you liked my list. And let me know about your favorite scenes in the comments.

Taking stock, post-NEET

It's been 16 weeks since I gave the NEET. 112 days. Almost one third of a year. No signs of the results coming out anytime soon. Seems surreal to sit and take stock of the number of days that have gone by and the number of useless things one has done with them.

And to think that an entire batch of medical graduates around the nation has been in the same state as me for the past three months; first robbed of a good two months of studying by the preponement of exams, then subjected to a torturous wait for results which have been indefinitely postponed, and an endless series of dates in the Supreme Court with no verdict in sight. I've been happily living in oblivion for the most part, but its finally getting to me. And with each day one steeps a little deeper into self-doubt and misery.

And of course the flow of well-meaning questions from people never stops, always reaching the same exact point: "And what are you doing these days?". Sigh.

To all you well-meaning people: I don't have the energy to answer and explain to you the complicated status of my professional life at the moment. And I don't need to see the judgmental look on your face at the end of my answer.

Anyways, what have I been doing?

Rediscovering myself. Making myself happy. Taking a vacation. Overdosing on romance. (Only in literature and movies, of course. Real-life romance still remains a daydream). Working, and quitting. Sleeping till noon. Earning money. Exploring new music. Shopping. Devouring novel after novel. Forcing myself to watch TV. Learning Paediatrics. Getting better. Getting fitter. Watching Hindi daily soaps.

Living the good life, apparently.

Seems I don't have much to complain about. Clearly the past few months haven't been a total waste. But I think there's only so much time a medical student can go without studying and without sleep deprived nights.

There, I said it.

In the past 6 years I've trained myself, against my will, to live and breathe in all those tomes of medical textbooks all the time. To keep giving exams on repeat. To have my head swimming with diseases all the time. To never have too much time on hand. To never have nothing to do.

So, being suddenly faced with months of nothingness, is downright absurd. The past three months have been weird. Anomalous. There's a strong undercurrent of unease. Like something's about to go terribly wrong. Like this isn't what I am supposed to be doing. That this will all turn out to be a huge prank and then disaster will strike.

Because this isn't how my life was supposed to be. No, not yet. I can't digest so much happiness and so much laziness. Too much of a good thing can kill you. So I'm pretty sure I'm dying soon if the results don't come out.

Never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually starting to miss those textbooks.

Oh, well. 

Let me know what's happening to the rest of you, in the comments.

Source: here

10 reasons why I love Taylor Swift

Yes, I am actually writing this post, with this title. I know. Announcing this to the world is, well, almost like coming out of a closet or something. That's just how controversial and loved and hated, all at the same time, Taylor Swift is. 

Anyways, without further ado, here's my 10 reasons:

1.  "This is the golden age of something good and right and real" - Taylor Swift, State Of Grace.

2.  "We're on the phone and without a warning, I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard" - Taylor Swift, Jump then fall.

3.  "All those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?" - Taylor Swift, Hey Stephen.

4.  "You are the best thing that’s ever been mine" - Taylor Swift, Mine.

5.  "Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox eating days? / Always a bigger bed to crawl into / Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything / And everybody believed in you?" - Taylor Swift, Innocent.

6.  "I can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away" - Taylor Swift, Treacherous.

7.  "Good girls, hopeful they'll be, and long they will wait" - Taylor Swift, Sad Beautiful Tragic.

8.  "I don't know how to be something you miss" - Taylor Swift, Last Kiss.

9.  "Taxi cabs and busy streets, that never bring you back to me" - Taylor Swift, Come Back, Be Here.


10.  "In your life you'll do greater things than dating the boy on the football team, but I didn't know it at fifteen" - Taylor Swift, Fifteen.

And here's some more:


11.  "I know I don't always say the right thing at the right time or speak up when I should, but I write it all down. I get my guitar and a pen and all of a sudden, I have a chance to say exactly what I meant to say in real life." - Taylor Swift.

12.  " I'm 23 now, but I never stopped jumping up and down when something wonderful happens." - Taylor Swift

13.  "I also don't think you should ever take life so seriously that you forget to play." - Taylor Swift.



I mean, how can you not love someone who writes like that? The girl writes like a dream. Quality lyrics are so tough to find in music these days. When was the last time a song made you genuinely smile? And more than just quality lyrics, there's this endearing honesty and innocence in her songs, and somehow, if you've ever been in love, you'll find a Taylor Swift song that is your story. If not, the girl will definitely be writing it in her lifetime, sometime.

I agree she hasn't got the best vocal prowess in the world, but she's learning and improving, and hey, she can sing better than I can, and that's all that matters to me! And she is a wonderful person, she actually wears clothes, she makes millions of girls around the world laugh and cry and fall in love with her everyday. And she writes like that! 'nuff said!




However, if you're still not convinced, here's 10 more reasons for you. These should really clinch it:


1.  "He is a loser, he's a bum, bum, bum, bum" - Britney Spears, Criminal.

2.  "California girls / We're unforgettable / Daisy Dukes / Bikinis on top / Sun-kissed skin / So hot / We'll melt your Popsicle" - Katy Perry, California Gurls.

3.  "Who owns my heart? Is it love or is it art?" - Miley Cyrus, Who Owns My Heart.

4.  "Young hunks, taking shots/ stripping down to dirty socks/Music up, gettin' hot / Kiss me, give me all you've got" - Kesha, Die Young

5.  "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me? Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me? Don't cha?" - Pussycat Dolls, Don't cha.

6.  "Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up?" - Rihanna, Rude Boy. 

7.  "You got that hot shit, boy ya blessed/Let me feel up on your chest" - Nicki Minaj, Va Va Voom.

8.  "Who run the world? Girls!" - Beyonce, Who Run The World.

9.  "I'll just strut in my birthday suit and let everything hang loose" - Bruno Mars, The Lazy Song.

10. "All those other boys try to chase me, but here's my number, so call me, maybe?" - Carly Rae Jepson, Call Me Maybe.

Get the picture? I don't want to hear songs about sex and boys and alcohol and partying like the world is going to end. Ugh. I don't want catchy beats. Give me sappy lyrics and fairy tales anyday. Atleast they make me smile. Yes, Taylor has written some childish and teenagerish songs as well, but I swear even those songs had more substance than all these other ones topping the Pop charts.

I once read a comment on one of her video's. It went like this: "You're living in the age of Taylor Swift, you just don't know it yet." I completely agree. Most of you reading this probably don't know about the girl's achievements at her young age, or her astounding commercial success, or her crazy fan following. I don't even care if she has a hundred boyfriends which she changes every month, as long as she writes an album about each of them. That's how greedy I am for her songs. I know after ten years she is going to be the biggest superstar I knew and loved and grew up with.

I'll end this embarassingly fangirly post with this video, which may help you understand the Taylor phenomenon, and which makes my post seem quite dignified by comparison.Please note that the girl in the video is a TV actress and a famous person in her own right and not just your next fan.

And of course now all of you know who to never, ever, ever make fun of around me, like, ever! :P

My week in quotes

From the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild :
(I'm sure no one who reads this blog is going to like the movie)

1. Miss Bathsheba: "The most important thing I can teach you? You gotta learn to take care of people smaller and sweeter than you are."
2. Hushpuppy: "When I die, the scientists of the future, they're gonna find it all. They're gonna know, once there was a Hushpuppy and she lived with her daddy in the bathtub." 

 
From the book Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel: 
(The book was a wonderful combination of weird and lovely)

1. "In addition to the knowledge of history, we need the understanding of art. Stories identify, unify, give meaning to. Just as music is noise that makes sense, a painting is colour that makes sense, so a story is life that makes sense."
2. “Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be real, but it's true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to get to emotional and psychological truths. As for nonfiction, for history, it may be real, but its truth is slippery, hard to access, with no fixed meaning bolted to it. If history doesn't become story, it dies to everyone except the historian.”
3. "They settled in one of those great cities of the world that is a world unto itself, a storeyed metropolis where all kinds of people find themselves and lose themselves. Perhaps it was New York. Perhaps it was Paris. Perhaps it was Berlin."
4. "English's drive to exploit the new and the alien, its zeal in robbing words from other languages, its incapacity to feel qualms over the matter, its museum size over-abundance of vocabulary, its shoulder-shrug approach to spelling, its don't-worry-be-happy concern for grammar-the result was a language whose colour and wealth Henry loved."


From the movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

1. Gandalf: "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure"
2. Gandalg: "The world is not in your maps and books. It is out there"
3. Gollum: "If Baggins loses, we eats it whole"


From the book Memoirs of a Geisha:
(Turned out to be a touching love story rather than the, well, memoirs of a Geisha.Quite enjoyable reading)

1. “He was like a song I'd heard once in fragments but had been singing in my mind ever since.”

2. "I could no more have stopped myself from feeling that sadness than you could stop yourself from smelling an apple that has been cut open on the table before you.”

 From the movie Coraline:
(The animation makes you all wide-eyed, the characters tug at your heart strings, the elements of horror fill you with trepidation but not terror)

This movie doesn't really have any quotable quotes, but here's one:

"It's not real scientific, but I heard an ordinary name like Caroline can lead people to have ordinary expectations about a person."


If anyone actually read all of the above and reached this part, hello to you! And yes, if you're wondering, this probably was the best week of my life! ")

P.S. Thank you for everyone who took the time to reply to the last post. It was good to know something about each of you that, well, wouldn't be so obvious otherwise; when using conventional modes of getting to know each other. 

Back with a lot of nonsense ")

I never thought I would ever let silly things such as life interfere with my writing. Life is supposed to just inspire the writing, hai na? But it did happen. Life did come and interfere. And then the fatigue just caught on. Which then progressed into sheer laziness. Which may have metamorphosed into a writer's block, you know, except that I'm pretty sure those things are entirely fictitious. Because if you are a writer, then you're a writer, no blocks whatsoever. But that's just my opinion.

So what transpired in the interim?
Exams, and studies, and studies, and studies, and books, and deadlines, and exams, and studies, and...

Oh well, after exams there were other things as well: Books, and bad movies, and weddings, and family trips, and babies, and weddings, and social engagements, and music, and doctors, and fake smiles, and weddings, and cakes, and ....

You get the drift?

I should really have some set agendas in mind before I start writing a post, but I never do. So then I get to the middle of the post and insert a totally useless stanza like this one.

But what I'm basically saying is that I'm here and I'm alive, but I just don't feel too talkative. My brain is snoozing, this month. Yeah, it does let out a contented buzzing sound. Only no one except me has heard the sound, as yet.

Aha, and my new favorite pastime during exams was stalking celebs on twitter. Instead of studying. But the moment I actually made a twitter account, all of them just became boring. I swear, at that exact moment. So now my account is dying a slow and lonely death. So please don't follow me on twitter or anything.

And you know how every every single thing becomes extremely tempting during exams, and the moment the exams get over, all you ever do is laze around on your sofa? Does that happen to everyone or is it just me?

Also does anyone else's CPU give them electric shocks? Mine does, currently. No pun intended.

And has anyone ever sprained (strained?) their neck due to over-studying? I HAVE! And it is such a pain in the neck!

...aaaand that completes the list of five random things you didn't know about me. Yes, I was counting. And yes, I cheated in the counting. You're just gonna have to live with that.

Okay, let me make this random thing no. 5: I never cheat. Ever. This was the only exception. I promise!

Now, your turn. In the comments, people. Give me five things I don't know about you. Go anonymous, use pseudonyms. Or well, your own name. Truth, fiction, fantasy, anything. Just make them good. And maybe we will have a fun post out of it next time.

Till then, bye bye. ")

Edit: Forgot my comic.

Source: savagechickens.com

What is it about the rains?

(Note: This post is basically a really long conversation I had with myself. However, if you ARE reading it, and it isn't raining outside where you are, do not forget to click here, turn up your volume, and let it play in the background while you read)

Rain at the Window by ~magoscuro

What is it about the rain that makes one so happy and lonely and eloquent, all at the same time?

Rainy mornings send sparks of anticipation down your spine, with a tiny secret smile and a light restlessness surging through the body. You cannot deny the feeling that something wonderful is about to happen to you, soon.

There is just something about the cool humid air lightly touching your face, carrying with it those drops of rainwater, and the smell of wet earth thick in your nose, that slows down your heart, exuding an air of calm, and simultaneously takes your mind into an overdrive of sensations. You're thinking all these millions of tiny little thoughts, all so separate and unrelated and yet all intertwined and tangled up; a mess, which you would love to roll about in forever.

There's something that pulls you to the window to look at the world in shades of gray and green, with deep, pensive eyes. Something that makes you want to be so in love and also entirely alone, and just stand still, in time, at that window. No life, no chaos, no deadlines, no rules; no big dreams, no promises, no broken hearts. Just you, your heart, and the rain. And stillness.

The stillness, it lets you concentrate on the pitter-patter of falling drops on the tin roof outside; on the water droplets sticking to the glass panes and then dripping down, slowly, and falling off; on the green leaves on the tree outside, shivering under the barrage of water; and on the lone man walking down the street hugging a parcel to his chest and slouching under a broken black umbrella. All these details, which you would otherwise be blind to, suddenly just seem to draw you in, while the sound of the rain lightly haunts your conscience.

Just what is it about the rain, that makes all your life disappear while it falls, and makes a whole new universe unfold around you, while you look on with the over-awed, uninitiated, eyes of a newborn? What is it that makes all those details in the rain so much more important than your life goals and pressing chores and the next deadline waiting to be met?

And then as soon as the rain stops and the sunshine starts streaming in, it's like you wake up from your dream, and lose all memory of what happened, and go back to the mundane robotics of everyday! It's like some dark magic! Witchcraft! Sorcery! It's like a dream that was given to you only to be woken up from, or a blessing that was given to you along with a fixed, cursed ending.

I can never win, with the rains, try as I may. I can never make them stay. I can never make myself remember and retain how they made me feel. And believe me, I try. I try with all my might, little as that may be. But life always takes precedence in the end, and, sooner or later, the sun always comes up.  

Hmpf. 

I guess I never will know what is it about those danged rains... till the next time they come around to my window. Then, once again, I will attempt to solve their mysteries.