Till Death Do Us Apart...

Indian mythology has always intrigued me. Though I must confess, I have never made a conscious effort to know mythology that deep….But I do like to sit down and listen or occasionally read about the majestic ways of our gods and goddesses.

I often wonder what a perfect match would be like. Well , to each his own, it really is a very opinionated and individualistic topic. For me, the answer lies in mythology. With a culture so rich, where could you better find a tale of togetherness?
I have always felt an affinity towards people with aggression that can be positively channeled to empower them.
When you speak of power and aggression, all attributes of Lord shiva come to my mind:- 'third eye' of destruction, trishul, Tandava(dance of creation and destruction). I am quite spellbound.. On the other hand you have Parvati who is a Sati incarnate..and a gentle aspect of Shakti. Another one of her names is “Sahana” or pure.

Together Shiva and Parvati are molded into each other to become a supreme Power. That is what they call Ardhanarishwari. Parvati when grown into a young woman after her reincarnation from Sati ,always knew her love for lord Shiva and after years of tapas , Shiva grants her wish…

Thereafter marriage and many other enticing tales begin..

Although a myth, one may find streaks of this tale in their own lives..where aggression and gentle power of silence come together ..quite miraculously..
I would like to write more about their stories after marriage, but I never write something I cant relate to.. So far , we’ll settle with ‘having found the perfect match’.

Reinventing the wheel

Dragging jobs, same office gossip, closed circle of friends/colleagues, nothing new, life's getting to you, aint it ?? :-) Well, if yes, then go ahead and read a write-up, glossed with sarcasm, on a world wide crisis faced by our generation - Boredom!! ahem..and its evil twin monotony :-)

It’s brought up in many conversations ,over cup of tea with colleagues, friends, family, grrr… it’s a widespread disease now!!!!

It’s something which I would never want to understand or relate to. Strongly despise a few human traits like boredom and would quickly want to do away with them. I believe boredom is easily induced and is contagious (pun intended)through conversations. Try hanging around with someone who is constantly cribbing about boredom and monotony and you will start questioning it yourself!!!

I’d say, who’s to stop these from creeping into our lives, we ourselves. Whether it be family, workplace, relationships…no one’s spared. The best getaway from monotony is re-invention. All you need is to get a different perspective. I know, variety is the spice of life, but for the “constant” factors in our lives, the best we can do is ‘give it another dimension’.
Creation is the best ability given to a human mind, so create new habits, challenges, opportunities, ideas.
Evaluation and spontaneity should co-exist. Enjoy taking risks at times.
Change your style, wardrobe, places that you hangout, make time for things that you always wanted to do but never had the chance, expand your social circle, read up as information leads to new horizons , take a holiday with family, friends, lover, take your ‘special someone’ out on a date..probably they need a break more than you. :-)
Most of all stop repeating to yourself that you’re bored, its like inception.As Cobb puts it, "What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea." :-)

Spend some time with yourself and evaluate if there is a regular pattern which is getting to you .Breaking away from monotony isn’t too difficult, it’s just a matter of giving it a shot.

A fiction called Romance..

They have been an enigma , their stories speak of undying love for one another..Giving us the notion that " Love lingers on forever".. Such is the charisma of "Star-crossed lovers" in a human society.
Writers across the world have given them this identity in fairy tale romances.

Let's face it, had they lived together and put their love to test in this living world , they too would end up with the same problems as any of us.
Their story lived because "Romance" as a concept has been glamourized in our minds. Let's trace it back to all the fairy tale narratives which always end as ".. And they lived happily ever after.."
But when attraction and loving relationships face reality, then we see, how people grow out of relationships, compatibility is lost, circumstances and sometimes family-ties cause separation.. We have such star-crossed lovers walking amongst us everyday. Which is why fairy tale romances and a "romeo-juliet" or a "devdas" never fascinated me. They are no heroes to me...Maybe as a literary content, I could appreciate the work of the authors , but I find it hard to relate to..
When looking for ethereal magic in your Love story, do keep in mind , factors like compatibility, like-mindedness,clarity of roles in each others lives, trust and dependability. Contrary to the belief, a practical decision in choosing your partner can also give you a lifetime of togetherness and has it's own magical moments. Thus, dont always Just "follow your heart" blindly..cause sometimes its just mind over matter :-)

Travelogue

In the past few years I have travelled to some tourist locations like Leh, Dharamsala, Mcleodganj, etc. With this trip, I realised that I have now become a frequent traveller. What adds to these escapades is an account of the trip shared with an audience. With this thought comes my first travel blog :-)

• Dal Lake : Day 1 , we arrive at Dal Lake and lounge at a houseboat 'Lake Victoria'.

Shikara(boat) ride was the most pleasant experience of the entire travel. Shikara takes you around a city built on water with a floating market, vegetation fields and lots more.. What truly amazed me was the fluent english (with an American accent)that the vendors on the Shikara spoke..Not even a call center could train that well....!
Travel Tip : Living in houseboats alone can restrict movement around the city at late evenings , hence Alternate your stay between a hotel and houseboat. Houseboat stay includes breakfast and dinner which is cooked by the tenants themselves ..Delicious Kashmiri dishes cooked at home are to die for.The stay is priced between Rs.700 to Rs.1500 depending on the houseboat and the season in which you choose to visit.

• City Tour : You can give this a miss unless you have a fetish for flowers.. Famous for it's gardens(Shalimar, Moghul to name a few..), in spring it offers a varied range of display of unique flowers and Almond Orchards. The religiously inclined can visit ShankarArcharya temple and Hazaratbal Sharif Darga. On the way to Pahalgam, you will come across Saffron fields where you can buy dry fruits, saffron, etc. for optimum prices from a local store called 'Zamindar'.

Travel Tip: It is said that if you have an unfulfilled wish, you may tie a thread at Hazratbal Darga for it and once granted you would have to return to untie it. I had a wish too, have had it for years now :-) But let's save that for another blog... Caution for the acrophobics, you need to climb 270 odd steps before you reach Shankarcharya temple.

• Gulmarg: The most commercial destination of Srinagar.

• Snow-clad mountain ranges around, this place offers every source of entertainment from Sledge pullers to a Gondola ride. Gondola ride is a cable cab ride to the mountain basepoint charged at Rs. 300 per person.

Once you reach the base, there is another Gondola ride charged at Rs. 700 further up. We chose to chill at the base point. For foodies , you have restaurants in the midst of snow. I recommend Aloo paranthas here :-)

Travel Tip: I thought sledge pulling was a bit inhuman as the sledges were manned. One needs to be careful of exhorbitant prices quoted for skiing, sledging and tourist guides in this area. They tend to quote one price and later demand another. If you are not carrying enough warm clothes, you can get 'snow boots' and 'jackets' on rent for about Rs.100 per person.

• Sonemarg: This place gives a distant view of Amarnath Cave and it's geography is defined by glaciars and mountains. We could not reach this place as the road was blocked due to snowing but what made up for the loss was a horse ride uphill with cold winds lashing against my face. The road to Sonemarg is on Srinagar-Leh highway and passes through Kargil before you reach LEh.

We stopped at the foothills of Sonemarg with mountains around and a stream flowing through. Camped there with Nazir Bhai and his gracious wife Tahira who packed some home cooked Kashmiri food for us. Bless them :-)

Travel Tip : Do some research about the roadblock before you get there. Usually the snow melts in June and the way to Sonemarg uphill is about 10kms on a horseback. Vehicles are not allowed there..
We wrapped our visit to Sringar the next day..A special tip for the ladies, carry extra cash for the precious stones sold here..Hope this helps your visit to Sringar..wish you a pleasant journey!

A take on love..

Love : With valentine's day marked on everyone's calendar, I had to write something about Love. Yes, I love my family,my mom who means the world to me. She defines love and unconditional giving.
But I feel valentine's day is a commercial stunt which makes "Love" sound like the most abused words of today...misunderstood, misinterpreted, casually-used, may have lost its noble demeanour for some of the singles still seeking it:-) Yes,I am talking about the love between a couple... I try to relate to it..understand it,define it..but alas it's intangibility leads me to conclude that it defies all reasoning...

The words that follow are not mine..but somewhere this is the closest I feel to understanding "Love" of this "kind"..I admire the writer's body of work,including his book "Coraline" which is in my collection..For now,here's his take on Love:

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable.It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.

India: A Fragile social fabric

India's social fabric is determined by the ethnic composition of society, values and education. Country's demographics are duly studied by researchers and suggestions/plans are drafted for the upliftment of the society.
NHRM statistical surveys suggest planning initiatives towards redevelopment of society. But these surveys could be ambiguous in terms of skewed distribution of social demographics.
On one hand, where education , poverty, unemployment are bigger issues to deal with, we are not that steadfast towards the obscure plight of sex workers in India. We are oblivious to their medical needs. I strongly opine that the profession of prostitution should be legally practiced in India. We are a country where prostitution is deep-rooted in our religion. Formerly practiced as "Devadasi", after the fall of Buddha empire, prostitution raised it's ugly head to transform into it's current form.
Often, this social concern of prostitution is attributed to economic causes like poverty. The nexus between prostitution and poverty does not represent the issue in its entirety. The causes can be varied like : ill treatment by parents, bad company, social customs, lack of sex education, phsychological disorders and also economic causes.. Thus curbing poverty alone may not resolve the issue. We need to handle it at a Constitutional level:-
1. Legalise prostitution as a profession
2. Levy Income/ Sales/ entertainment tax on brothel owners/sex workers
3. PAN card/voter ID to be issued to sex workers for identification of such individuals so that they can be a part of country's demographics and represent a true picture.
Contribution of this tax will also give an accurate calculation of GDP of the country.
Sex-workers are manhandled and tortured in inhuman ways and the only reason they cannot lodge an FIR is because their profession cannot be disclosed. There can be medical camps to address health concerns, spread AIDS awareness and regular medical checkups if we can identify this section of the society with above mentioned measures. To me , this is the most pratical way of conducting such social reforms..Rest is left to the better minds governing this country....