See the Sceleton Dance

India, Gujarat, Godhra and Being Human

Gujarat is again doing what it does best - provoking humanity. Hoardings are up in many areas in gujarat asking for a Hindu Rashtra and declaring these as Hindu Zones. Does BJP expect all the Non-Hindus in Gujarat to leave their "Hindu Rashtra", do they want an all Hindu state? If this is true, I wonder if they even realize the gravity of what they desire because BJP's success in attaining this goal would facilitate mass elimination of the Hindus in the so called Hindu Rashtra. In simple words, Gujarat is digging its own grave.

Haven't people learned that somewhere a line needs to be drawn? Or is the whole Godhra incident wiped out of History? In case it is, I guess its my duty as a "Human"(read below why I say I am a Human) to remind all those blood hungry, life sucking, m.c.p. Politicians that Politics, Religion, even National Boundaries have limited purpose, they can guide you, secure your borders but unfortunately they can also limit the human vision. We must rise above this danger. The Hindu Rashtra activists should know that their actions would have repercussions.

I see the pictures of 2002 Godhra riots with glistened eyes and a heavy heart. Today, I decline to be an Indian first, because our country and its caretakers are soiled with the blood of thousands of innocent civilians. Imagine the man in this picture takes pervert delight in killing and murdering fellow Indians. Do you feel proud to be an India? Does he make you proud of being an Indian?

I decide to be a human first and than an Indian.

8 Limbed Lakshmi

Wonna see the so called Avtar of "Goddess Lakshmi!!!

A two year old whose life is going to be a ongoing struggle is fortunate to be born in India. In India Goddesses and Gods have innumerable limbs and heads.... So at least she wont be ridiculed upon and may be she will be put on a thrown and worshiped. My best wishes with this kid.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioEP8is7RqYTbWBie4flPm7qJmiAD8SPIQ1G1

The Cow Plunge

Can you beat it a cow fell from a cliff, landed on a van damaging it severely. Wow was the cow high on GRASS!!!

Brains, not bullets

The Economist does have some smart stuff too. I read this article about "shift from technology to manpower". It is about focusing on Construction instead of Destruction.

The line that says it all in this article is "The military planners' job is to cope with the likely, not to restrict democratically elected politicians' options."

Important Research Article in "Economist"

Do you want to roll laughing.. people in this world have really got patience and time to waste.

The Economist has an important article by Dr Geoffrey Miller, of the University of New Mexico. According to Dr. miller, the gentlemen's clubs (dance bars of India) are the field site for revealing human biology as the Serengeti of the biology of lions and antelopes. Even more surprising are his research tools "lapdancers!!!" The cherry on the cake is undoubtedly the conclusion "lapdancers make more money when they are ovulating." Yeah right.

I keep wondering what on earth must have made him chose this topic for research!!!!

The Ayesha Fad

My understanding of the Gender Bias:

Lets talk about foolish fads today... I have this fad of naming things and assigning a gender to them... for instance anything that has a negative attribute is always a "He" in my dictionary..

My stomach is a "He", (He often aches without a reason)
My Liver is a he (He ached a lot when I was suffering from jaundice)
My ears are he (They ache when my blood pressure falls)
Cars are always she (I like them all)

Then, I name things too and seek immense pleasure in calling those things by their "assigned names"
1. My computer - Phoenix (He)
2. My nails - Iky (He)
3. Perfume - Fusssy (She)
4. Stairs - Robby (He - I hate him)
5. My Cupboard - Nichy (She)
6. My Car - Speedu (She for sure)
7. My Mobile - Ruffian (He gives me trouble sometimes.... Although since some time I am contemplating a Sex Change for him ;)..............


etc....

Laws of India

Everyone must have come across the news in which 2 cops in Patna were caught on video beating a suspect thief (Aurangzeb), who was later cleared of the wrongdoing. The video's were the epitome of harshness, clearly inhuman behavior on part of the Cops. One man was seen whipping Aurangzeb with a belt. How can this go unpunished, or is it some Indian rule of law that a mob which goes wild should not be punished. More so this gives me the picture I don't wish to see - that the laws of India do not apply to its implementers.

Chula Women

My perception that the "Indian Women" are the non-smoking element of the society changed after i read this article. I am not talking about the women in Indian Metros who take up smoking by choice, I am talking about women in rural India, who smoke not by choice but by necessity. This article, says "indoor pollution (caused by the chula, the primitive stove still used in villages across India for cooking) is responsible for over 550,000 deaths in India every year, mostly of women." This is an alarmingly high number and I am not sure if the government is doing anything about it.

"There is a misconception that our cities are death-traps while the villages are idyllic havens," correctly says Dr Roy.

Mumbai Cabbies

Frustrations of living in Mumbai – to survive in the city of dreams is no less than a struggle in itself.

Everyday morning when I leave for work, I am forced to wait for 20 minutes for a Cab driver to accept me in his "esteemed taxi" and take me to my requested destination.

Since the travel distance is small and it is a minimum fare charge, taxi drivers are most aversive to take me in. Not only that, they are outright rude and just look outside the window if they don't intend to go.

I wonder every single morning if there are any rules and regulations, under which a taxi driver is disallowed by law to refuse a potential client.

This is a huge problem for people who stay in South Mumbai and want to travel in close distances. If anyone knows a solution to this problem, please e-mail me.

Music!!!

I found some really cool quotes on "MUSIC", these are worth sharing -


Music washes away the dust of everyday life. Red Auerbach

Without music, life is a journey through a desert. Pat Conroy

Composers shouldn't think too much--it interferes with their plagiarism. Howard Dietz

There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another. Frank Zappa

You are the music while the music lasts. T. S. Eliot

I think music itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music. Billy Joel

Music is the key to the female heart. Johann G. Seume

Music is what feelings sound line.

Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something. Frank Zappa

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. Bob Marley

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Plato

Music is love in search of a word. Sidney Lanier

Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it. John Lennon

Music is well said to be the speech of angels. Thomas Carlyle

Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilized into time and tune.
Thomas Fuller

Happy Birthday

Some poem this is I say -

Somebody died
So nobody showed up
I thought I had friends
but nobody showed up.

Years go by
some things stay the same
seems I will always cry
On my birthday

I want to sleep all day
I want to sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep
I want to sleep all day
I just want to sleep sleep sleep

Every year
I fear the day
It’s been going on
For over a decade

A mere coincidence
Is what I try to say
But why do bad things
Always happens on my birthday

I want to sleep all day
I want to sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep
How can I live through the day
I want to sleep sleep sleep

Happy Birthday

25 and Going

I turned 25... yeah it was my birthday. Got up to slight melancholy. I had to reach work in time so that I can be in time for an important life-changing appointment (if you may call it "life changing"). Luckily, I was saved from traveling in Mumbai's First Class local trains. I cabbed it... while I saw familiar buildings and streets pass by, thoughts were running through my mind... how my last year was (just happens that it was great), how life has changed drastically (what matters now is not what mattered then), how I have much less time for myself than what I used to have, how in one year I have grown to hate walking my dog, how my patience has drastically decreased (making me hyper-irritable - step on my tail and I will surely bite)?

Then I took a walk down my memory aisle - 10 years ago I was 15 and on my birthday I was getting dressed for my awaited birthday bash.. it was my last year in school. This was the first time I decided to invite some guys (colony friends). Just turned out to be the biggest disaster. The guy on whom I had a "Crush" - b.t.w. I can laugh on this today - was dancing with my then best friend. Heart broken and shattered. I still remember crying myself to bed.

Then I went further down in my memory trail - 20 years ago I was 5. I was in school.. I had very few friends, so mom called them over. She thought this would help me make friends. And I actually did get acquainted and friendly. The only problem I remember was when I had to give my newly crowned "friend" their take away thank you gifts. I held each packet so tight like it was a life and death situation. I still remember when the last guest was gone I was standing on my window and wondering what would happen to me when I finally grew up. How can someone be so innocent not to know life is not about packets colored in red, yellow, blue and green.

In the past few years I have suffered from severe "BIRTHDAY BLUES". Every year I'd make resolutions and promises to myself, some got fulfilled and some failed. But I can say this year was different. In the past I promised myself unrealistic things. I attempted the very thing I resented... I hated my birthday and still hoped I'd celebrate it somehow. So this year I thought, positive thinking! I stopped expecting unrealistic things... every single day before my birthday I told myself I have reasons to celebrate.

Every day "Someone" helped me think this way. "Someone" made me realize that wasting a day now was actually wasting a day of your life forever. "Someone" held my hand when I was weak and unwell and also held my hand when I was laughing uncontrollably (ku ku ku ku).

This is to my "Someone" thanks for helping me realize the value of time and how it will never come back. Thanks for sticking around in all my mood swings. Thanks for giving me a memory for a blog which I intend to write after 10 years - where I will surely say "10 years back I was 25 and I CELEBRATED my birthday with a very special Someone."

Cute Hippo-Doggie Video

I think this is one of the cutest animated videos.

Jigsaw Craze

I solved this Jigsaw years back when I must be 14. As a child I was so much into solving Jigsaws. Holding the pieces and detailedly examining its characters was my definition of entertainment. These cardboard jigsaws came with 1000 or more pieces and it used to take days and weeks to complete them.

Now I try solving jigsaws online and let me admit its not even half the fun. I don't know where to find these cardboard ones in Mumbai. If anyone knows where I can find them, please email me on ayesha_bilpodiwala@yahoo.co.in

Learning to Drive on Mumbai Roads

Learning to drive on Mumbai roads is not a joke. Those narrow lanes with more people walking on the roads than on the footpaths and traffic signals not working half the times, it can only get messy. More so, if you are girl learning to drive, you will be looked upon as an “idiot” who has no potential what so ever to steer a car correctly.

To make this feat even more difficult our beloved BEST bus drivers, cabbies and auto rickshaw drivers add their bit. In the pursuit of making the driving experience for the novice drivers as challenging as possible, these MCPs (Male Chauvinist Pigs) also tend to slow their own commute. Leave alone their deafening horn blowing skills and seriously is using turn signals a sign of weakness for these smart asses?

My driving experience has helped me learn a new set of driving rules:

1. Don't be fooled by the lines on the road. If there is almost enough room for two cars--move over, it's two lanes.

2. Never put on your signal in anticipation of a turn. Signals are to be used to let other drivers know what you have just done. Always wait until you are well into the turn before signaling.

3. If you are a pedestrian, size up the traffic flow and find spots where you can dart in between cars to get across several lanes of traffic. Don't worry that you are crossing against the light. If any startled driver stops when you jump out inches from his car, be sure to give him a dirty look because now he has messed up your traffic pattern.

4. Bikers never overtake from the right. Its okay if you forget to horn before overtaking.

My conclusion: Indian’s are known to be the best drivers in the world… London, New York go anywhere you’d surely find an Indian Cabbie. Has anyone wondered why so… because Indian drivers are not afraid to die.

My take on "How I met your mother"

In one word "Awesome"
Romantic comedies depend on appealing actors, and these five are irresistible.
Humor quotient is high, characters are well-played and dialogues amazingly scripted.
What more to say I think this one's already a winner...

Panda Sneeze

To Pam & Zain

I read this poem somewhere and thought how well it suits Pam and Zain.

Standing by,
All the way.
Here to help you through your day.

Holding you up,
When you are weak,
Helping you find what it is you seek.

Catching your tears,
When you cry.
Pulling you through when the tide is high.

Just being there,
Through thick and thin,
All just to say, you are my friends.

How Far Is India From Where She Started?

According to a World Bank report, the absolute number of poor has risen along with India's population in the past 60 years. India, by any measure, is one of the poorest countries in the world. Roughly, 1 out of 3 Indians are living below the national poverty line. Further, the life expectancy of a 63-year-old person is a decade lower than many other developing countries, and the illiteracy rates for men and women are higher than average for low-income countries. The gap between men and women is among the highest in the world, one indication being the fact that a girl is one-third less likely to attend secondary school than a boy.

Solving these problems is India's greatest challenge. There is much scope for improvement even given India's current level of income.

Nothing illustrates this better than the comparison between the state of Kerala and India as a whole. Kerala's per capita income is slightly lower than that for India as a whole. However, an average Keralite can expect to live a decade longer than the average Indian man. Kerala is the only state in India that has more females than males, the "natural" outcome of equal treatment of the sexes. Literacy is virtually universal for boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14, as compared to India as a whole where roughly three-quarters of boys can read and only one-half of girls. Finally, Kerala's death rate for children from 0-4 is one-sixth as low as India's. Today Kerala is the only state in India that is known to leave aside its religious differences, and practices common culture. For instance, “Onam” the annual harvest festival of Kerala is celebrated by every Keralite, may he or she be a Muslim, Christian, or a Hindu. Isn’t this a marvelous achievement and why cant the rest of Indian States also adopt such amalgamating practices.

For once, put your nation’s welfare before your religion and see the difference for yourself. Social development can make a big difference. The dream of a truly independent and progressing India can be achieved only through unifying practices undertaken by the people and encouraged by the government.