GOD!!! I can't Stomach this....

Dear GOD,

Hope you are doing good and as always keeping an eye on your subjects. You must be wondering what tragedy has befallen him that finally he had to get back to Me. So "Ajj khush to bohut honge tum" , but let me get things straight I am not here to plead for anything. I am here just to tell you that Yes I believe in YOU.

Yes i do whether u believe it or not. I admire your ideas and your superlative imaginative power. Hats Off to you for creating such wonderful things around but let me tell you if I have to choose one of your creation that stands out, it has to be the MAN. An exemplary work of a sheer genius. How did u you conceive this? Were you in a shower or in your bath tub when it struck you? And the parts that make a Man..wow!!! The brain that differentiates us from the rest of the animals, a unique soul per individual and the senses. This is undoubtedly champion stuff. You gave us Eyes to see all of your other creations. A Nose to smell the aromas that mother nature has to offer, the smell of the wet soil after the first showers. Ears to listen to music of the trees, rivers, the chirping of the birds. A Tongue that fuels our taste buds so that we can relish all the cuisines. But then there is just one but major blemish that could have been done without. What made you come up with the idea of the Stomach?

If there is one root cause to all the evil in this world, its the stomach. An entire life could have been spent happily in search of knowledge, wisdom , joy but due to your this decision the life span of an man is spent in search to stuff himself with this basic necessity. I am sure you didn't foresee this tragedy, but how could you? Can you just imagine how our lives would have been different if we had an empty tummy with no stomach in it?

New born babies, toddlers would always be smiling with no pangs of hunger. A world would have been a different place with no crying babies around. Young children could have spent their entire childhood enjoying their innocence without the necessity for schooling and joining the Rat Race to earn a living. A world where young adults always were merry,enjoying their new found senses and would readily get settled in life as he never needed to worry about feeding another stomach. Adults would always be at peace without any worry for that Roti. But Alas!!! this is not to be.

If all these were not enough, there are other side effects to the evil of the Stomach. First you earn a living to meet the needs of the never ending demands of it and to add to that Mr Stomach can sometime betray you and fall sick. So now you have to spend the rest of your earning to pacify it and make it work normally again so that it can suck your blood once again. Then one cant eat and feed the stomach more than what it needs,else its a cardinal sin, its Gluttony. GOD you must be kidding right when you pronounced that gluttony is a sin. And what about sweating it out to get back into shape after one has over indulged himself.

I can't stomach this anymore and finally i am on my knees and I plead....yes yes you heard it right, i am pleading and asking you for one favor, not for myself but for creatures of the future.

"GOD, if in future you decide to end the lives of your most loved creation, which i am sure you will and plan to make a similar kind of being in some distant land, please don't add this heavy burden for them to carry. You will see how they will appreciate the fact and won't look up to you only when they are in need as we do."

Yours Loving and faithful,

Admirer

Gay Ho..Gay Ho!!!

I couldn't come up with a better name for my post other than this. An amalgamation of the two of the hottest material that has caught the imagination of the Indian media and public in the last couple of months. The first part is a word which had a more happy meaning when we were kids, is now a reference to a homosexual, gaining iconic word status after Dostana.The other part acquired from the now famous song "Jai Ho", soundtrack from the Academy Award winning "Slumdog Millionaire". A movie many claim marks India's entry into the unconquered bastions of the Oscars, though it is actually a British Movie. But to tell you the truth , i indulged myself into a bit of plagiarism and used the words coined by some Twitterati after the pre historic section 377 of the IPC was amended by the Delhi High court.

What is Article 377

Section 377 of Indian Penal Code imposes a maximum penalty of a life sentence on anybody who has “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” with any man, woman or animal

So, the question arises what has the Delhi HC said or done which has brought so many of the few self proclaimed gay people to the streets in celebration. The decision means that no longer it is criminal offence to have a physical relationship with a person of the same sex. The gays will no longer be deprived of the fundamental rights to personal liberty and equality. It may also make the society more open to gay unions and get rid of the social taboo.

It makes me wonder, what changes we can see in the near future as a result of this verdict. One thing is certain , and it is that we will see more people coming out in the open and declaring their sexual preferences without any fear of being harassed. We may come to see new celebrity gay unions here as well, similar to the likes of Elton John. Better on screen depiction of gay relationships something like My Brother Nikhil and not in a usual comic sense preferred by the Indian movie makers catering to the peanut size brains of the general cinema goers. Also a distance possibility is that it may solve India's biggest problem of ever growing population.

But, there is a long way to go before any of the above possibilities becomes a reality. A country where religion plays such an important role, it will be tough for the government to act on this judgement without inviting the wrath of the religious priests and leaders. And how will it not ignite the moral policing which tries its best to push India to medieval times. With the pattern followed in the Indian judicial system there are very high chances that the case will appealed again in the higher courts. So there is a long time to go before the amendment is passed by the Indian parliament and becomes a law.

Nevertheless its a historic decision, ushering a new era in Indian society hopefully moving ahead in a positive direction. So if you are Happy and you are Gay....clap your hands....stomp your feet...bang your heads. Do as you wish as its your day...Cheers

A Tribute to MJ

Today was one of those days when the world stood still. A day when you dont think of anything else other than that one thing. Today the 26th of June, 2009, the world lost one of the legends of modern times, the one and only Michael Joseph Jackson, The King of Pop.

Its really hard for the fact to sink in that He is no more. I have always been a big fan of his, and was looking forward to his final tour which was scheduled for next month. My admiration for his music, his dance, his aura goes a long way right to my growing days. My First memory of MJ was a poster of his which hung from one of the walls of my Uncle's room. A big fan of his, Choto Mama got the VHS of "THE MAKING OF THRILLER" which was a rage at that time and as a matter of fact of all time. The Thriller video was quite spooky and i think that got me hooked into it. I really loved the "creatures crawling in search of blood, to terrorize your neighbourhood" part and the evil laugh at the end. Beat It was another class act which was superbly choreographed depicting the punks from the ghettos trying to settle a score. And then the last, the ever vanishing MJ in Billy Jean. Yes, You can say that the admiration, the worship had started at a very tender age.

In the Winter of 1990, my Dad presented me my first cassette.Those were the days of cassettes and when you finally own one it was your most valuable possession. You always remember the first one and will always treasure it and in my case, I just loved it. It was Dangerous. I remember playing it over and over again on my walkman, esp Heal The World the last song on side A and Black or White the first song on side B. The "Eat This" act by Macaulay Culkin in the video of Black or White was one thing i always wanted to emulate. Then the tracks Remember the Time and Will You Be There O.S.T from the movie Free Willy were also my favorites.

Though after that there was a gradual decline in the popularity of MJ due to the allegations that he faced and his failed marriages, but that did not stop the hits from coming like, the Earth Song and They Don't Care About Us. It really seemed he poured his heart out in these two classics. The MTV award performance in 1995 was another once in a life time performance . The dance moves , the all too famous moonwalk and the performance with Slash of GNR fame was legendary. Not only was MJ a great singer and a dancer he was a great writer too, one of his notable work was the We are the World song, sung by many renowned singers of the 80s like Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and many others. There were also classics like Bad, Smooth Criminal, Dont Stop Till You Get Enough which I always liked and often listen to.

But , we can no longer expect any new chart buster from the Legend any more . His Music will always sooth e our ears , his mookwalk and the Robot steps will always please our eyes. His presence will always be felt in every note of the octave. As he leaves for the heavenly abode joining the likes of Elvis, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, I pray that he finds Peace, as he always urged the world to find it through his Songs.

A part of the 1995 MTV Music awards

Aur Kya Chalu Hain!!!!!!

Today as i was sitting on the bus, lost in my thoughts, i hear the all too familiar words "Aur Kya Chalu Hain" being uttered by someone nearby. As i turned around i saw this guy talking over the phone to a friend of his. The bus in question here is the mode of transportation that transports the fresh energetic me to office every morning and brings back the dull, half dead human form back later in the day. So its obvious that this guy who is a fellow passenger, also is part of the IT bandwagon like thousands of us young Indians.

"Kya chalu hain " in proper shud hindi would be "kya chal raha hain " which means Wats Goin On. A shorter version of this would be "Aur Suna" or "Aur Bata" popular among the guys from the northern parts of the country said in a very nasal Punjabi accent."Chalu" is a very popular word here in Mumbai lingo and can be used in many contexts like, meter chalu hain, ladki bohut chalu hain, A.C chalu hain(The Rangeela master piece). So now you know why Mumbai is known as the city which never sleeps, as yahaan sab chalu hain.


Its amazing how these few words define the present youngistan. Its the best tool you have got in your possession in a long and boring conversation. Just after dinner, you receive a call from your friend after not such a long time, or from a colleague whom you have just met earlier in the day and you just cant hang up after 2 minutes. So what you do? you just pass the ball on to his/her court by saying these golden words "Aur kya chalu hain". Its not that you want to know how the other person is doing or whats new is happening in his life, but actually you no longer intend to speak or have the energy to do so. And i don't blame someone if he does so, as how long can one crib about his work pressure, how long can one curse his boss and the peanuts that he is being offered, how long can one analyze the reasons behind the Indian team's latest loss or how long can one talk about his soul mate's soul crushing techniques. May be the other person can talk about something new which can be interesting and can prolong the conversation to few more minutes. So hoping that there is something more to talk about, you pass on the baton. Invariably the reply from the other end would be "Kuch Nahi Yaaar, Tu Bata". So here you go again and the conversation goes on to a series of Tu Sunas and Tu Batas.

Though unintentionally at the end of it all, you end up spending some valuable time with your friend and you know that he is hale and hearty and is doing just fine. So next time don't forget to call up your friend and don't ever forget to ask "Aur Kya Chalu Hain!!!!".