Tag...Tag... Baatate Chalo Tag

Shamrez... Tag is done... This was a long one... next time a little shorter one

so now sound...roll camera...action... "Main Ye kehna chahti hu jee... Mere dil se hai ye sab jawab..."

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Got up 8 a.m. – thanks to Mom. Then again at 8.55 a.m. – because I had to answer a call, who calls so early on a Sunday morning! And then finally got out of bed at 11 a.m. – that’s the time to get up on Sundays

2. How do you like your steak?
Unless you are talking about Chicken, spare me the menu details

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
In the Cinemas, it was Love Aaj Kal… Thanks to my stars it was not a totally pathetic movie, I actually liked it. But the last movie I saw was just yesterday, 27 Dresses, a total chick-flick (a genre I totally love!!!)

4. What is your favorite TV show?
FRIENDS (I can watch it any number of times. It always brings a smile back on my face and reminds me of all my awesome friends.)
I know I am suppose to have just one here, but can’t leave this one out:
Grey’s Anatomy (I fell in love with this series from the word go. There are shades of real life in the life of these TV characters, lives I feel connected with)

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Anywhere in this world, in the company of my loved ones.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Today, wrong day to ask for breakfasts. Considering the time I get up, Sundays are normally breakfast + lunch together, which was out normal roti, sabji & daal.

7. What is your favourite cuisine?
I am total desi person, Indian cuisine is the best!!!

8. What foods do you dislike?
I can eat any kind of food but what I really really dislike are Mushrooms, Peas, Mutton….

9. Favourite Place to Eat?
The place doesn’t matter, as long as it has good food.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Can I get my on jet-plane or bike? Car is not my thing.

12. What are your favourite clothes?
Casuals clothing works perfectly for me!

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Greece

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
It’s always ½ full – optimism is the name of the game!

15. Where would you want to retire?
I don’t see myself retiring, the hyper-active person that I am.

16. Favorite time of day?
Early Morning! It’s totally calm, serene and my mind is totally fresh.

17. Where were you born?
A beautiful place somewhere on the world map!

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Cricket, F1, Football, Tennis, ……….. (The list can go on, so don’t make the mistake of asking me again!)

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
We will soon get to know the answer, so let’s wait a little while

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
Refer the answer to Q.19

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
The friends who actually respond back…

22. Bird watcher?
First, define bird-watching!!!

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Insomniac!!!

24. Do you have any pets?
None. But would love to have a pet dog. Mom are you listening!!!

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
Yeah, Next month I am moving to London for my studies.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Army Officer. I felt they are the strongest people in the world!!!

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Family vacations!

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Dog Person.

29. Are you married?
Don’t be jealous of my freedom

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes. I like to be a law abiding citizen.

31. Been in a car accident?
Let’s not remember the bad memories. I prefer to forget those accidents.

32. Any pet peeves?
Let’s not open the pandora’s box here!

33. Favourite Pizza Toppings?
Cheese!!! Cheese!!! And Lots of Cheese!!!!

34. Favourite Flower?
Genda Phool!!!

35. Favourite ice cream?
Chocolate!!!

36. Favourite fast food restaurant?
Anything that serves me the food fast…

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Never!

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Reply to my email to a good friend.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Never ask Shopaholics to pick just one store, you will regret it. But now that you have asked, Macy’s, Blomingdale’s (NYC) for everything from clothes, to accessories to whatever you can think of and Barnes & Noble (NYC) for Books.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Shopping!!!

41. Happy with your job?
I am one of the lucky ones who is not working currently

42. Broccoli?
Just another veggie that I Love!

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Other than just one vacation, I have loved all the ones I have taken.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
My family.

45. What are you listening to right now?
TV – News!.... Ipod – Kaminey (Dhan Tan Naa)

46. What is your favorite color?
Black.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None at all.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
As many as I can!

49. In What time did you finish this quiz?
I finished it… That’s important.

50. Coffee Drinker?
How do you think then I finished this quiz??? Where is my Kaafi for the day!!!!!

Am tagging this to my buddies... Adee, Manushee, Chetan, Sree, Kinjal, Nabeel, Sherin, Diggi, Shradha, Narain and everyone else who would like to give it a shot :)

Forgetful me forgot some amazing friends. So without much adieu here is the people I would love to hear back from :) Vivek(@viveksingh), Nadhiya(@nadhiyamali), Meeta(@kyrasinging2), Danish (@danishctc), Aanchal(@AanchalM), Kanishka(@kp1200), Arnab(@arnab_das), Mohini (@spicychutney)

Enjoy!!!!

Darkness to Light - a journey..Pledge your eyes ad lead the way - Let's all join in this noble cause

Thanks to my friend, Meeta Maheshwari for letting me make this post. Link to the original post (http://meeta-stillnessspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/08/darkness-to-light-journeypledge-your.html)

Have you ever wondered what makes our life so beautiful, so meaningful, so enriching...what is it that makes every day with all it's toils so bearable and gives us the strength to keep going.......for some it is to see their children grow, for some it's the beauties of nature, for some it is to see their loved one's smile....the list is endless....these moments make life such a beautiful and seemingly unending journey..but to enjoy all these precious moments we need our 5 senses- seeing, hearing,smelling, speaking and touch....

but out of these it is the gist o' sight that defines our lives, our actions, our feelings....just imagine a life imprisoned in a dark room without a single window and listening to sounds of children laughing, people talking, life passing by....but without seeing them... frustrating isn't it.. would want to tear down those walls...won't you?????

But their some people who are imprisoned in this darkness not by walls but by the absence of the gift of sight....by BLINDNESS.Their are many causes for blindness, some being congenital, some acquired like injuries, infections, accidents, cataracts, glaucoma's......in all these cases some or the other part of eye stop functioning throwing people into the world of darkness.

Some of these causes like cataracts, corneal blindness, glaucoma's can be treated and these lucky people can enjoy the beautiful journey...out of these next to cataracts, corneal blindness has the highest chances of treatment success all that is needed is a donor corneas.

In India we have about 10 million blind people out of which 2 million suffer from corneal blindness easily treatable by corneal transplant...among these 2 million a massive 60% are children...and the number increases every year, as against an annual
corneal donation of a mere 40000

let me explain what is a cornea?..how does it function??..and how does corneal transplant work?

when you see your eyes in the mirror you see the white sclera in the middle of which u see a round coloured iris and a small dark pupil, but covering these two is a transparent layer of cells called "CORNEA"....light has to pass through all these structures to reach inside the eyeball and our retina and then the brain for us to see.If the cornea gets hazy, opaque or scarred light entering the eye is either distorted or blocked depending upon the damage...just imagine a smear on the lens of your camera while clicking a photo..what happens to the photo happens to what we see when the cornea gets damaged.

How does the cornea get damaged??...sometimes by accidents, injuries , chemical injuries, some infections like herpes can lead to severe corneal scaring etc.

How can we treat them and bring the sight back?? simple you remove the scarred cornea (like you would wipe your stained camera lens)..and replace it with a new one i.e. " CORNEAL TRANSPLANT"..easy as it sounds...it takes a exquisite amount of expertise to perform the operation but the toughest part is to get a "DONOR CORNEA"..i.e a cornea from somebody who has donated it to the blind for transplant.

The process of corneal transplantation begins with :

a "DONOR" who fills a pledge my eye for donation form either, at a "EYE BANK" or a "Hospital"..where he gives his consent that after his death his eyes can be removed and used for transplantation purposes...he's then given a donor card which after the death of the person is given to the hospital, doctor or the eye bank....but even a pledged cornea cannot be taken without the consent of the relatives of the deceased ( a major hurdle..'cuz in their grief the relatives at times refuse).
another way of cornea donation is that some Hospitals have a "Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme..wherein a terminally ill person and his relatives are counselled by counselors to donate their eyes after death.

Cornea needs to be procured within 6-8 hrs of death of the donor to be useful for transplantation after that they undergo degradation..so timely information to the concerned doctors is very essential.

The procedure of corneal extraction need not take place in a hospital..eye banking teams come to the homes for extraction and the process takes just 2o minutes to complete so there are no hindrances or delayed in the last rites of the dead person and is an absolutely non mutilating surgery, the extracted cornea is replaced by an artificial cornea transplant..so that their are no harms to the physical appearance of the deceased .

After extraction the corneas are examined for any infections like HIV, HepB , herpes etc and are graded according to their conditions over a spectrum of excellent to poor.The high grade corneas are used for transplant purposes and low grade for therapeutic purposes.They are stored in a preservative medium till they are transplanted.

WHO can donate?? any person above the age of 18 (those below 18 need the consent of parents or guardian's) not suffering from HIV,HepB,HSV or metastatic CANCERS, or any infectious eye disease can donate. To donate you can contact your nearest eye bank (plz check the Internet for eye bank near you) or any Hospital or Doctor and can get information about the process. Once you become a donor kindly inform and explain your discion to your relatives and requesting them to carry out your wishes.

By this small act you can make a persons life beautiful and this a way continuing the unending journey of life by seeing the world through another person's eyes.It doesn' cost you anything apart from few hours of your time to donate your cornea...we all love getting gifts we want don' we???...

How about gifting a blind person the gift he covets most out of life and God- The Gift of SIGHT.

Please Pledge your Eyes for donation.

(P.S. 25 Aug- 5 Sep is the eye donation fortnight, where in multiple camps are held for eye donation all over India.)

To My Dear Bro... With Love

I was just a kid, when God gifted me with this beautiful bundle of joy. Everyone said he was my younger brother and he will be my constant companion for the rest of my life. They were so true! For the past 23 years, we have shared beautiful memories, been there for each other and always emerged triumphed through crisis. It’s all because we have had each other and we always knew that no matter what we are there for each other forever.
I remember fights we had as kids, mom had to actually shout on us and give us lecture on how we should not fight & take care of each other. We have take care of each other oh so well. From childhood fights to masti as adults, I have shared the best memories of my life with you.
You might be younger to me but you are more mature for your age. You have stood by me as solid as a mountain, always encouraging me, loving me unconditionally but also stopping me whenver I make a mistake. You are a total rockstar and I just love how you can to many things perfectly well at the same time. I love listening to you play the guitar, or you always troubling me, doing all types of crack-pot masti and making me smile.
You have so many hidden talents, you yourself don’t know. Some you know well and I so love all the ones you display. With you around, I know I will never be short of smiles. Love you loads for being such a wonderful brother and friend. Happy Rakshabandhan to you.

My Best Pals

This blog is dedicated to my friends. Friends who are close to my heart and who have been the true friends in my life. I treasure their friendship and love them for being there for me. Today, for some reason I was inspired to write about them here. You can call all of them my best friends.

S.S.: My all time favorite person and best bud since school times. I forgot to add she is the most amazing person I know. S.S. is very strong-minded and she knows what she wants. She can be a very traditional bahu and still maintain her identity of a today’s women. Despite the distance that has always separated us, she has stood by me, been there for me whenever I need a friend. Now, she has given me the most beautiful person in my life, my angel.

M.Z.: She is part of the original girl gang. Me, M.Z., S.G. & P.C. have been together since junior college days. M.Z. I have known since school times but were never good friends then. Darn! I regret it so much! I wish she had walked in my life earlier. Anyways now that she is here I am not letting her go anywhere. If you ever want to go looking for inspiration then M.Z. is the person where your search stops. She is a loving, determined person always approaching everything with a zest of energy that might just leave you wondering.

S.G.: The original chatter box and the guru of M.Z., me & P.C. She is smart, funny and intelligent. I always love our heart to heart conversations. She patiently listens to whatever I have to say, and give me the honest advice. She can be a very strong-willed person and achieves her targets. She always knows the right things to say to me; she knows well what’s going on in my mind. It’s like she can read it. She can match my craziness along with M.Z. & P.C. We have had endless chats about any random talk, without making sense and still enjoyed every bit of it. She is one heck of an awesome friend.

P.C.: She is the nice girl amongst the 4 of us. She has been at the receiving end of all our leg-pulling and she has taken each one of it with the best sense of humour. Mind you she is very good at even giving it all back, every little penny! She is the girl with the golden heart, never seems to want to hurt anyone and that’s why she is such a sweetheart. I still can’t forget my first meeting with her, she sitting like a sweet girl, when she visited my place with her cousin. I thought she was the quietest & simplest girl. She is right on the simple part, but quiet…Oh no!!!! I was so wrong and I am happy that I was wrong. She one heck entertainer and I love you P.C. for being you.

P.V.: I call her my Di. She is the angel in the disguise of my best friend. She is the most wonderful friend and sister I could ever ask for. She has stuck by me like a fevicol for the last 11 years. The distance has never made a difference; I always know that whenever I want a friend, she is around. She is an artist in a disguise of a techie. She has a smile that can cure you of your darkest pains. She is a level-headed person who has always given me the most sound advice whenever I have needed her. She is passionate about things that she does and excels in whatever she does. She is the angel of my life and I am blessed to have her as my friend.

N.V.: So I finally a guy has made entry into this list. I met N.V. during the first year of my engineering days. I distinctly remember talking to him on his birthday. That was the start of our beautiful friendship. We always have a cat and mouse relationship, just like Tom & Jerry. We always fight, we argue but I know he is still my most dependable friend. I still remember our famous fights in college; we would fights like small kids and then patch up also like kids. There is innocence of children in our friendship at times and the maturity of adults at times. He is caring, loving and a true friend. We have gone from being just friends to best friends and I have truly cherished this journey.

A.J.: A.J. has been my pillar of support during my life in USA. I met his as a total stranger who had joined with me in my University; the journey that began in 2004 with a casual meet has now become a friendship I truly value. In an unknown land, he was the person I could always rely on. He has made me smile when I needed to, supported me through all my problems and always had the rock-solid patience to listen to my problems. He has been my support system, always there to tell me when I am wrong or right. We both have shared some amazing moments in USA that I will cherish forever.

U.S.: I call U.S. my perfect girlfriend. She is super cool, sexy, loving, caring, intelligent & totally independent. We have shared our good and bad times together and with each passing day our friendship grows stronger. As friends we have talked for hours, bitched about others, shopped like crazy, had awesome tiramisu all over NYC, supported each other through our tough times, enjoyed our good times and become the bestest of friends. She is the girl, I have gone from thinking as a total spoil brat to someone I have come to love and adore as a person.

N.C.: I can actually see N.C. falling down from his chair, just at the sight of his name here. I bet he is thinking I have written this post half-sleep but no it’s true. This creature I met just more than few years back as an acquaintance and whom I came to know well about more than a year back has become one of my closest friends. I have come to depend him on as a friend, we fight like we are enemies but we both know we are always there for each other. He is a person with whom I have countless arguments, discussions with no end in sight. We would sit for hours discussing something and the only way the discussion or argument would end was that we both we tired & had to call it a day. N.C. is a crazy guy, that’s how I would describe him. He can do endless bakwas without making any sense and at times talk like a total mature person. I can just say that, love him or hate him you cannot ignore him. Just happy that our paths crossed in this lifetime and I look forward to a lifetime of friendship with him.

S.R.: S.R. is my Rockstar!!! She is my alter ego, my better half and my partner in crime. Let me think what all we have in common; love for shopping, talking, books, movies, food, coffee, cheesecake, adventure, and the list goes on. But the love that is above all this is the love we have for each other as friends. She is a totally amazing person who is never judgmental of any of things I do or share. She will first be my friend, hear me out and then tell me the right thing to do. I miss the days when we both would go around NYC exploring new places for coffees and cheesecakes or how we would try and control each other from shopping but end up letting each other just a small thing. She has a child-like innocence in her words and actions; which makes me love her even more. Our endless conversations, on anything & everything under the sun; conversations to which there was no end to. She is a friend, a sister and best pal for me.

D.A.: D.A. is my oldest and the closest pal in this whole world. He has been my best pal from the times when I did not even know what a friend is. He came into my life when I was just a tiny kid and has been my closest companion in this world. Technically speaking, he is my younger brother but he has always been a brother and a best pal, all in one. My best and most fond memories are all shared with him, he knows my thoughts better than I do, he knows me like a best pal should know his friend. He is the best thing that has happened to me in this lifetime and I will always thank the Almighty for giving me the blessing that I call D.A.

These guys are my bestest pals. Without them, I would not have been where I am. I thank my stars that these special people are part of my life. I am truly blessed to have them as my best pals.

Salute to the Heroes

Today is Vijay Diwas, the 10th anniversary of the Kargil War. Today we remember the brave soldiers who laid down their lives for the motherland. The official estimates say that 527 were martyrs, 1,363 soliders were wounded. We attained victory at the cost of losing our bravest soldiers and destruction of countless families. But these are the harsh realities of war, we accept it or not we have to live with the loss of these heroes for the rest of our life.
Kargil war was the first war that my generation witnessed. Wars of 1962, 1965 & 1971 were just stories we heard from our parents and read in our history books. The 1999 Kargil war was our reality. The television bought the war in our drawing rooms; for the first time India witness the atrocities of war and none of us liked what we saw. But that's the reality of war, we like it or not we have to live with it, live with the guilt that while our brave soldiers were fighting to keep us safe in our homes; we were just sitting and watching it all unfold on television.
For us, Kargil was a war fought on far away land in the mountains of the Himalayas. The reality of this war has never hit us hard. But for the soldiers who scale these mountains, it's a hard everyday reality. The families of the soldiers live the nightmare of losing their loved ones. But the brave soldiers fight all the odds; their family have sleepless nights, so that we all sleep well in the comfort of our homes.
Sometimes movies do show the reality of life; LOC Kargil showed how difficult the battle was; Lakshya portrayed the determination of a soldier; Dhoop showcased the life of a family after they loose their son in the battlefield. But we never seem to understand the grimnnace of the wars. Maybe because we are not losing part of ourselves in it. We are so used to the comforts of our air-conditioned homes that we tend to overlook what exists even outside it's realms, then how can we look at the mountains and see what the soldiers are going through?
And what about the government? Are they not responsible for providing the soldiers with the best of facilities? Shouldn't it be the top priority of a government to take care of it's soldiers? Do they just care for the people who actually go and cast votes for them? It pains my heart when I see images of army officers camping in Delhi to get equal pay as the officers of their ranks in civilian duty. It's a shame on the government and all of us that our soldiers have to struggle for what is rightful theirs.
Peace always comes at a price. The price we have paid for peace after the Kargil war is the lives of our brave soldiers. But was their sacrifice really worth it? I don't see any peace around; I don't see the families of the martyrs feeling proud of the country for which the heroes laid there lives; and the tensions on the border is no where close to an end. People hold the military men in high esteem; army forces are one of the highly respected around but still do not give them what they deserve. It's my sincere appeal to everyone that in our own small way lets do what we can for our brave soldiers. Lets fight this battle with them, so that next time there is no Kargil. Lets work together to build a better India, India where no brave soldiers are lost. Let there be peace on earth and let it start with me.

Rains...

As I sit at my window, watching the rains I can feel nothing but a feeling of joy. With every drop of rains falling, it seems like the world around me is getting a new life; the earth is totally refreshed. As for me, I am totally lost in the music of the rains. The rainy season bring with it, a feel of joy, new beginnings and pure happiness. The rains make me want to become a child again, go back to those carefree days when with the first showers we all kids would rush out of the house to soak in the monsoon madness. We did not care if we would get sick, catch cold or dirty or clothes; all we knew is that we wanted to be the first to experience the joys of monsoons. I have happy memories of my grandma telling us to go and get soaked in the first showers; according to get it was good to let the first drops from the heavens fall on your body and she was so right.
Mumbai and Rains have an integral bonding; the monsoons brings with a feeling of joy, it gets with it the message that now you have got a break from the summers and now you can enjoy the beautiful rainy season. The walks on Marine Drive and Worli Seaface are a must to do during every monsoons. As the waves rise above its embankments and shower on you, you cannot but help feel eternal bliss. The thought of a group of us trying to shelter under a tiny umbrella always brings smile on my face. We all know well that the umbrella is too tiny to accomodate so many of us but the joy of sharing the umbrella even though it means that we get totally soaked, is an amazing experience. It brings us all closer and connects our hearts.
Hindi Movies have used the rains to their atmost potential. Rains have shown love blooming between two people like in Hum Tum or 1942-A love story or the feeling of complete bliss expressed by Kareena in Chameli. Rains have a certain degree of romantism attached to them; just the thought of rains might bring the memories of ones loved ones to our mind. How can one ever forget the song "Pyaar hua, Ikraar Hua" in which Raj Kapoor & Nargis declare their love for each other while standing under an umbrella, caring only about their love for each other, with no concern about the rains around them. They were lost in love for each other and the rains provided the perfect set-up for this union of two hearts. The naughty side of love is also seen in the rains through movies. I love the song of Namak Haram "Aaj rapat jaaye toh humein na uthayo" picturised on Amitabh & Smita Patil. There is full masti and love in the song. The couple in the song just cares to have fun in the rains while they declare their love for each other. Rains through their beauty work wonders at bringing heart closer. If your loved one is mad, try taking them on a long drive in the rains; I bet s/he would just forget all their anger and come right back in your arms.
I am a rain baby. I was born during the rainy season and according to my mom the day I was born it was the first rains of the season. So for me there is a double attachment to the rainy season. Rains bring with it the feelings of happiness for me. I can just get completely soaked in the rains and forget all my troubles. I can become a child again when I feel the rains falling. One cup of hot coffee with my favorite book is a perfect rainy day for me. I always wish to sing the nursey rhyme (with a little twist), "Rain Rain don't go away... Come again and again... I always want to play..."

Looking back....

Today I complete a year of being back in India. I moved to India from USA exactly on this day in 2008. WOW! I can't believe it has already been a year. The year that went by has been an amazing one, filled with a new learning experience. When I left India, I was just out of college, high on life and totally a free bird. But over the years of living abroad, I matured and changed a lot as an individual. Now I feel that I have grown-up as an individual, a person who has a gained a different outlook towards life.
Today I want to look back at the year that has passed by. I was born and brought up in India, I have lived most of my life in this country, yet when the time came for me to make the shift back home, I was totally apprehensive. On one hand I was happy that I was going back to my family but on the other hand it was with a heavy heart that I was leaving my life in USA. I was now a changed person and I was scared of how I will accommodate life back in India. My life in USA had changed me, my approach to life had changed, my outlook of looking at things had changed and more importantly I was a much more independent person.
I would be lying if I say initially I had a problem adjusting back in India. I would find fault in everything around, the way people drive, the way people talk, everything everything. I still remember I would close my eyes when I car would come too close, shut my ears because of the excessive honking and always tell the driver to be careful. But then I realized that's the way we drive in India. I had a bad time dealing with the bureaucracy in India, the red-tape got onto me. Everywhere I went, I was asked for bribes. These were things I was totally used to while living in India but now these things seemed so alien to me. But this time, I was more adamant and determined to fight such evils. If I felt, there was something wrong happening with me, I stood up against it and made myself heard, no longer was I the subdued kid who left the Indian shores.
The attitude of people towards me also changed, in a good way and a bad way. For some people I was a smart, intelligent girl who had lived in a foreign land but for some people had a cheap attitude of looking at a girl who has lived abroad. I never cared for such scum-bags as I know they are there to just pull you down. The people who made this transition easier was my family and friends in India. My family was always there for me, even when I was not there for them. The understood me, supported me and loved me always. In this past one year, I have grown to love and respect my family more than I ever did. My other support system were my friends back in India. The many years of USA had somehow meant that I had lost touch with my friends. It doesn't mean that we never spoke or met but somehow were not a big part of each other's lives, distance seems to do that to relationships. I always knew that they were there for me and they new that whenever they needed a friend I was just a phone call away. But my move back to India gave a new meaning to my friendship with them. I feel that we have rediscovered our friendship and the bond is grown even more stronger.
My life in USA and this last one year has taught me a lot of things. I have become an independent, strong-willed and caring individual. I have learnt the value of family and friends in my life. I cherish the time I have spent in USA but I am happy that I am back in India. Like the say, a bird can fly anywhere but at the end of the day the bird returns to its own nest. India is my home and wherever I go in this world, I will always come back home.

Let's there be freedom to choose...

Everyone around seems to be talking about the Section 377. The Delhi High Court ruling said that section 377 is against the right of citizens. The Supreme Court has asked the government to take a stand on this issue. People who want the law to be abolished say that the ruling of the Delhi HC is historical and in with the changing times. Others like religious leaders who are against rights for homosexuals are shouting that these laws are against the grain of the Indian society. Then there are TV channels that are cashing on this by having debates for days without any concrete conclusion to the debates. But amongst all this we seem to forget that a person gay or straight is still one of us. He has the same right to lead his life as per his or her wishes just like you and I do. Karan Johar makes a stupid movie like Dostana and we say that the Indian society is opening up to the idea of homosexuality. But according to me we are miles away from making and accepting a Brokeback Mountain. My view is that a court ruling, few protests marches across the metros or making movies on this issue would not really solve the problem. The law is the problem but a bigger problem than the law is the fundamental attitude of the people. Unless people in the society are ready to accept the fact that not every man loves a woman or every woman loves a man, I do not see an end in sight for this issue.
We as Indians proudly say that we are a democratic country; people here have the freedom to do as they wish to. But we do not give the basic right to some of our citizens, the right to choose whom they wish to love. It’s like saying to them; you can live your life you want only if you follow the norms set by the society. If this is not double standard then what is? The sexual choice of a personal is a deeply personal matter. A person has the basic right to choose whom they want to be with, who is the society to dictate the terms of someone’s bedroom. Do these so called protectors of our culture ever go and stop a husband from sexual abusing his wife; Do they raise their voices and stand together when a husband or wife has cheats on their partners; or Do they ever make so much noise against child abuse? We have so many real issues that need a united front, why is that we cannot stand together to fight these issues?
Just because someone wants to be with the person of their own sex, does not mean that we cannot accept them in the society. They are just like us; they too have feelings. They feel love, anger, sorrow, happiness and all different emotions that we feel, so how can they not be part of our society. God never says just because you are gay, I love you any less. He takes us the way we are and as children of the same almighty we have to accept each other as we are. In today times, as we look around, everyday there are things happening that normally the religious leaders should stand up against. The Babri Masjid, Godhra, Polygamy, Forced Conversions, Terrorism, Religious extremism, Killing of innocents in the name of God, Child –Abuse, Rape, and so many others ills in the society; but I never see the religious leaders coming together, under one roof and say that we stand united against such mindless acts. Baba Ramdev never says that Yoga can cure religious hate. Then why single our own brothers and sisters? They are just trying to fall in love and be with someone, like any of us.
Delhi HC ruling on section 377 or the gay parades are tiny steps in the direction of changing the overall attitude of the society. It’s like our we just learning to crawl towards a more open and tolerant society; a society that does not discriminate a person based on his or her sexual orientation. This is the strangeness of our Indian society; we can do whatever we want behind close doors, no one will say a word but when you come out in the open and demand the right to do the same with all legal rights, people from all corners of the society will suddenly become the guardians of our culture. People say homosexual culture is not part of the Indian system; to such people I just want to say isn’t our culture the most welcoming culture in the world. Over centuries we have welcomed people from all over the world into our culture, made them feel at home and they have perfectly blended in the Indianness. Then why this discrimination with our own people; can’t we accept them the way they are? Indian culture teaches tolerance and love for all, then but discriminating aren’t we actually going against our own culture?
To the people who say homosexuality leads to diseases like AIDS, I just want to say please go back to the science class and get our facts right. If you are so concerned about the spread of AIDS then why not do something about prostitution, rape, child abuse, and drugs. I would like to see them work to curtail the spread of AIDS in all sections of the society. Just going on television channels and projecting yourself as guardians of the society, is not the solution. If you really believe in the issue, work for it. Why not work on tougher laws for child-abuse? Most cases of child-abuse take place in families and never get reported. These people should actually work on making the government pass the strictest laws against such un-punishable offences. Majority of the rape cases in India go unreported. Are we doing enough to save the females of our society? In Indian culture we place women on the highest pedestal, we give them the status of goddess and we rape the same female we call our mother, sister or wife. We love our daughters, wife and mother at home but once we go out, most of us would not think twice before maligning the “izzat” of women who are total strangers for us. If this is Indian culture then God also cannot save us here. If we want to protect our Indian culture, then fight for the right of our mothers, daughters and children. Work to protect them and then will you be hailed as the real heroes, the guardians of the Indian culture the way God wished it to be.
I wrote this only because I genuinely feel that it is time we change out attitude towards the people who have always been part of our Indian culture. It’s high time we open our minds and hearts to them, take them with in with open arms, as they are one of us.