Not done :Multi-tasking and (now) free-writing.

There have been lots of times when I've proved to myself that I'm a total failure at multi-tasking...

seriously... I know people who can talk on the cell and write an email at the same time.... not me !

The last time I tried doing that, a complete disaster occured, which involved my 'friend' hanging up with a shout and the email sounding incoherent.

Is the inability to multi-task just a guy thing? maybe not.

So as it turns out, I've been pretty content with blogging this month.In fact, I've been actively persuing it.... on the expense of one of my other loves... reading. I bought a couple of titles last month... and they've been up in the cupboard since then. Doing both the things kinda doesn't fit into my present scheme of things (for later).

Have you ever had 'an awakening' , btw? I've had lots actually... In fact, most of the to-do  things strike me at the wierdest of times.... which have nothing to do with the task at hand.

This occured to me yesterday.... I was shampooing, happily taking in the lovely scent (ans 29,click here) , when it struck me.... I haven't been reading! and when I looked in the mirror, I could see the book covers looking back at me.... freaky.

That's when I decided I need to quit blogging for a while, and sit down to read .

However, that particular decision was in for a revamp when I saw this article in the paper today...

wtf!?

Click here to read the article 

What is this pointing at? Are the days of transferring whatever's in your head onto your blog, over?

I know free press' a far-fetched thing to equate here, but do all of us actually have to beware of what could lead us to be sued before we write?

That's not fun!

 

Appellation diabolique.

I'm about to tell you a big secret today. Yup, something that'll blow you away.Something that'll leave you gasping for more. Something that'll rip you apart with its intensity and fill you up with awe at the same instant (I'm not quite sure if that's physically possible though..imagine it).

Like the time when Krishna bestowed the darshan of his true, celestial self upon Arjun who was losing the sight of his path, like the enlightenment Gautamaditya acquired under the bodh tree (that was it, wasnt it?) , like Archimedes, you'll be yelling "eureka" ... although (I hope) you don't run out of your bathtub seemingly naked screaming it out loud (why would you be reading this in your bathtub in the first place, freak?) .. once you know this. 

My friend, there comes a time in everyone's existance, when opportunity actually does knock ...when they're hit by the (proverbial) apple on the head.... and when this happens, there's one thing that's certain... it's going to be the best damn piece of information anyone's ever been told by anyone else.

When you feel like bi*ch slapping me ... you know Ive gone too far (you're too sweet for that, aren't you? gulp.). So I shud get back on track and tell you the reason why I wrote this.... 

Today,  Ladies and Gentlemen , is the day when I tell you that one single thing, that one event that drives me craaazy ... *slap* quit thinking of Aishwarya..... and I'm talking MAD, complete with steam from the nose and ears (no other crevices, thank you) 

Sequence flash  begins.... in negative print (bollywood hai bhai)

Reader: huh??! did I just read through all that #$% to know what bugs you? 

Me:  (arms out the SRK way) Naaahiiii, wait! don't go!  you should know this ... you want to know this... this is cooool....fading sound.  

Me in Mandir: (Bells ringing all at once by unseen cosmic force) Bhagwaan, aaj tak maine tujhse kuch nahi maanga.... par aaj maangta hun... give me back my readers! 

(Thunder, Lightening and punditji with tilak follow...)

Sequence flash ends.

Okay okay, I admit it.. I overdo it sometimes (read always).

But hey, that was refreshingly fun, right?

Not waiting for an answer... I'll just get back to the topic...

What annoys (bigtime understatement) me the most is grosse mis-spellings and mis-pronunciations of my last name! 

(that's not me, in case you're wondering.)

Hence the title of the post.... The name's not so bad that its IMPOSSIBLE to pronounce is it? *rolling eyes*

This may sound really drab... but let me elaborate.

My last name is Luthur .... let me spell that out for you... L-U-T-H-U-R.

If you're thinking this... and I'm quite sure that you are..

No, I'm not a descendent of any of the two Martin LuthErs .... No, I don't know why we use this spelling, it just is.....and No, I don't know why this is my family name. Questions quenched? 

Now, was that so hard? One wouldn't think so.

But the common intellect has formed opinions that beg to differ.

I'll divide this into two sections

a) Spelling.

b) Pronunciation.

Spelling

Its my gift... Its my curse ... as was Peter Parker's ...His problem being way smaller compared to mine (I told you I overdo it)....

People have mis-spelt my name in all kinds of places....I'll be kind enough to list these:

-Attendance registers

-Admit cards

-Driver's licence

-Shopping card

-Campus placement selection list (I corrected them immediately!)

-Phone bill

-Electricity+water bill

-Chat

-emails

You get the drift I'm sure...

Coming to the actual facts, the following are the ways in which my name has been mis-spelt, in order: 

-L-U-T-H-E-R (frequently)

-L-U-T-H-A-R

-L-A-T-H-U-R

-L-U-T-H-R-A (I've fought with people for this one.)

-L-U-T-H-R-I-A

I shopped at lifestyle and got a member ship card issued... I filled in their entry form to the best of my abilities and submitted it to them. The next day, I get a mail saying " Congratulations, Mr. Mohit Mathur"

wtf!!!!   so here's the last..

-M-A-T-H-U-R (rarely)

Although, I haven't encounterd a L-U-T-H-O-R yet...  superman fans... where are you?

Pronunciation

 Allright, coming to the pronunciation bit... I'm sure its pretty clear from the previous spellings section what this one would include... so I'll get right down to listing them: 

okay people... this would be clearer if I actually say it out... I dont really know how to write phonetics... and i'm not sure if u can read it either... so I'm just gonna record it and put up the audio clip.

Click here to get audio

Till the next most irritating occurance, au revoir.

new vista tool

This one's a little about technology... I personally found this tool really cool and useful...so thought i'd tell you

 If that's not your thing, scroll down to the next article or click this .[ Damn, am I bent on keeping you here or what? :P ]

Anyhow, I'm not sure if this tool's in earlier versions of windows or not....

Its called "Snipping Tool" 

What u gotta do to access it:

1) click on the start button (bottom left corner)

2) type 'snipping tool' in the search box.

3) Voila! there u have it

What this tool essentially does is takes a snapshot of any open window... be it a webpage, your 'my computer' page... whatever ... and has the option of storing it in more than one format (jpg, gif, png, html) . 

Also, 

1) you can choose whether you want a part of the page, or the entire window.

2) you can edit the created picture by writing on it with a kind of paintbrush.

That's how I got the mtvindia.com's page onto the blog as a picture.. see it... I was trying to take a pic with my cam earlier, but that wasn't too clear...and things became a cinch when I found this tool (Thanks kyle!)

What actually happened was that I'd put up camera taken pics of the mtv webpage onto the blog... then I called kyle and told him how I'd been put up on their list.... he viewed my page, and told me the pics were unclear... and THEN he gave me this solution! 

I think this is another one of life's lessons:

The answers are ALL there... you just have to know the right people!

Instead of studying.

I'm not sure if any of you shares this with me , but I've made a lot of discoveries (and self-discoveries [censored stuff :P]) while (not)studying for exams.

Let me give you some examples.

1) It was around 10 in the night and I had a chemistry exam the next day... and I didnt know a thing!  However, like always,while looking into the textbook, the words slowly began to dissolve .... and instead, really lively imagery started to fill the page.

I snapped out of it.... and saw a deck of cards lying on a shelf. And that was the night when I learnt to build a card house. (sob, how I miss the days)

As expected, I scored really bad in the exam... but who cares, I can build a card house now!

2) I usually don't write poems... just that I've never been that interested in them.  I think it was during the second year finals, when one fine morning, I did write a poem. Thought I'd share it here.

Backdrop: I was sitting in my living room, studying (had a backache cuz I never studied on the study table...always on my bed, makes going to sleep a faster n more convenient process :D) . 

I looked out the window, and I could see this tree that had recently blossomed with red flowers.

I can't really say why, but I wrote a poem on it! (of course, getting an excuse to not study could have been a huge source of motivation!). 

Beauty or Vain ?

As red as the setting sun

In the twilight of dusk

Calm and serene

With the breeze kissing your tender petals

Reaching out from a bed of lush

With a show in full contrast

I see you on this clear day

Wanting to take in more

But forced to stop in my way

By the load on my very core

As time passes..

As my gaze falls upon you

I see the simplicity that is

Nature in its prime

Which we seldom stop to think about

P.S :    The load on my very core  refers to the exam pressure(hah!), if I remember correctly ;)

Who said exams never tought anyone anything !! 

Featuring "Being me" oh, n a tag too!

This really amazing thing just happened.... currently, my blog is listed the first in the MTV bloggers scroll.... Its basically this list of blog links people put up on mtv's website.

And I'm soo happy about it...no, i'm not being lame... this really is happy stuff for me... sadly, almost no one i know in real life is a blogger...and its 2 in the night right now... so i don't know who to call and tell!!!!  

See, MTV has this thing called bloggers belt, which basically is a collection of blogs . What u gotta do is go to mtvindia.com, click on blogs.... then type in ur details and blog link to submit....  if they like it, they'll put it up on the list.....and i JUST saw that mine's up there, the first one! 

So I just thought i'd write about it. 

Woohoo for me!!

I'll put up a pic of the webpage... cuz I'm not sure how long my blog's gonna stay on there...

Hmm.. see that? as I said, not too clear, but hey, that's my name alright, "mohit" written in red.... "gurgaon" in white after that. The pic is basically the pink chaddi campaign from my I.random.pinkarticle. Go read it if u want click the name.

Below that, "being me" in white...

For my blog description there, i wrote "random thoughts that are even more random in words.."

Which is in a way true... cuz I write totally random stuff that crosses my mind.... and when the turn comes to pen it down, all i write is pseudo-interesting, almost-funny stuff ;)

Anyway, I'm happy about the mtv thingy!! My very own first ( small-time) literary achievement. ( which I think isn't a very tough thing to do , oh well) 

I picked up this tag from another blog I was reading and thought it'd be a nice thing to write about.

What are tags? One is tempted to ask. Well, i didnt have a !@#$ clue either...  then i just read around sum more and figured being tagged just refers to blogging along certain "guidelines" ...which essentially beats its purpose..

but I thought it'd be fun!  so here goes:

Q 1) What does your user name mean?

A:  Exactly what it says: "Being me". It provides a (free) view of whats going on in my head.  hmm... isn't there a movie like that? i can't seem to remember.

Q 2) Elaborate on your user photo.

A: Wierdly, was taken in a brightly lit multiplex washroom.Don't ask why( u know u want to! ). Shows me wearing an overcoat. yes, the contrast has been messed around with a little using photo editor.

Q 3) How many comments do u have?

A: Do u mean the total? I didnt count. I'm sure its not a lot though. [ here's when I nudge you to leave a comment]

Q 4) What's your current relationship status?

A: Single.I'd be lying if I say I want that to be permanent ;)  . On the bright side, Valentine's just went by... and I still have a positive bank balance!   

Q 5)  What exactly are you wearing right now?

A:Blue tee with a white collar ( happens to be 1 of my fav! ) , black shorts.  Love the colours, yes.  oh, n purple chappals!

Q 6) What is your current problem?

A:  Refer Q 4.

hahaha... no seriously... its actually that i'm between jobs, and i want to get working again soon.

Q 7) What do you love the most? 

A: Since its a 'what', and not a 'who', I assume it refers to inanimate objects. So, my lappy and my cell. Yup, a sucker for gadgets.

Also, lazy sundays with my pals, DRIVING, coffee house chit chat.

Q 8) What makes you happy?

A: Doing the things I love the most. 

Q 9) Are you musically inclined?

A: Mostly yes. 

Q 10) What would you do if you woke up one morning and found out you were on cocaine?

A: I'd get up, dust it off my bed, lie down and go to sleep.

     No, actually, i'd try n figure out what all I can sell to sustain myself ;)

Q 11) If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?

A: Start blogging sooner!

Q 12) If you MUST be an animal for ONE day, what would you be?

 A:  A snow leapord. They're spotted high up on the mountains (duh !) , have amazing balance, are real survivors. 

Q 13) Ever had a near death experience?

A: I did get my car to do a 360 once, by accident...  are u saying I could have died? I never thought of it that way (wide eyed)

Q 14) Name an obvious quality that you have.

A: I care about people. I actually give a darn.

Q 15) Whats the name of the song that's stuck in your head head right now?

A: Comfortably numb.

Q 16) Are you happy today?

A: My blog is currently listed first in the MTV blog belt. So YES!!!

Q 17) Who will cut and paste this first?

A: NO idea.

Q 18) Name someone with the same birthday as you

A: Sanjay Manjrekar, Bill Cosby.

Q 19) Do you have a secret crush on someone?

A: yup,    Genelia D'Souza (are you listening??!) 

Q 20) Do you have a garbage disposal in your kitchen sink?

A: In it, no. Under it, yes. How is this even interesting?

Q 21) Have you ever been in a fight? 

A: Yes, oddly, the wierdo bit me. People ended up being amused as i got a bite mark on my neck. ewww.

Q 22) Have you ever sung in front of a large audience?

A: Solo: No . Chorus: Yes. Was in the school choir in junior school. When puberty hit and my voice cracked, my musical ambitions went down the drain.  Stop grinning, its sad, i couldve been the next Indian Idol. 

Q 23) What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?

A: The eyes. [no, seriously.  I know what ure looking at too btw! ]

Q 24) What's your biggest mistake?

A: Not studying hard for CAT '08.

Q 25) Say something totally random about you.

A: I use Biotique green apple shampoo.

Q 26) Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?

A: Yes, a relative (groan)

Q 27) Are you comfortable with your height?

A: Mostly, yes.

Q 28) What is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for you?

A: Arranged pasta n wine at a private location.

Q 29) What are your favourite smells?

A: A handful actually...  coffee, my shampoo, varnish, gillette cool wave.

Q 30) What's something that really annoys you?

A: Badly spoken english . (the grammar n the pronunciation basically).... no, I'm seriously NOT stuck up!

Q 31) What's something you really like?

A: Hanging out with friends, people reading my blog.

Q 32) Do you give random hugs and kisses?

A: No, not random

Q 33) What's the latest you have ever stayed up?

A: A day and a half.

Q 34) Have you ever been rushed to the emergency room?

A: Thankfully, no ( touchwood).

If you're reading this, I've tagged YOU!!

Of Ahimsa and the nature club.

Its been a while since I've been writing here. I have one word for the experience. "awe-some".

All through history, the united people's front, or the common masses have had but one cause...to make themselves heard to the filthy rich czars, lords or zamindars  (aka government in contemporary lingo) . There have been civil revolutions, murderous uprisings, stone-pelting, bottle throwing...what not, by the people who just want to get their views across. Of course, one variation of this is the 'Ahimsa'  philosophy of the Mahatma... which i feel is just like reverse psychology.

What this actually does, is that it creates a hospitable atmosphere for the expatriate who does not like to be told what to do, or in most cases, what not to do.  When the concerned person is presented with a situation completely unlike what they had in mind, shame, pride or plain anger drives them to do the exact opposite of their natural tendencies.

 

Consider the dilemma of the East India Co. when no matter how much brute force they used to spread fear, all they'd get were namastes and  polite smiles. Imagine the sheer frustration, when the worst, most horrendous thing you could do to prove your point was abuse people, and all they'd do was present the other cheek. Wow, that really was something.... not the point here, though.

What I was trying to say earlier is that people have always wanted a stage to voice their idealogies, dilemmas and complaints. In earlier times, it really was a big step for the village 'sarpanch' to go to the king to appeal for help. Today, however, the papers carry polls everyday and rip apart leaders' images as a hungry beast might pounce upon its prey ( not that the leaders are as innocent as the pink nosed rabbit).

The dynamics of  leadership have changed tremendously over the years. With technology and communication playing herculean roles towards shrinking the gap between 'raja' and 'praja'. 

Blogs.

The oh-so-me avenues of penning down whatever it is you want to say. The battlegrounds where words flow, like unstoppable rivers, bursting into each other to form a single huge body ( of water). Too dramatic?

Anyhow, the point is.... Blogs have had a progressive role to play in the projection of the common( and the not so common) man's voice onto the open platform of the internet, where everyone has a right to everything that's comprehensible.

I personally find it totally cool to write about anything and everything in here, and know that my thoughts are now embedded in the quasi-real world of the internet. Just the satisfaction of knowing that ive said something, and its available for criticism. 

u get the point, don't you? 

Coming off that road, I added another part to my blog page... endangered animals' pics .Hope its cool. What am i saying, of course it is... I love it!

I've been a nature enthusiast ever since I can remember.

In school, we used to have 2 hours of co-curricular activities every friday. It was called S.U.P.W   ... forgot the expansion.

Anyway, I always opted for this thing called the Nature Club.Basically this group where we'd do environment related activities like Gardening in the school, Birdwatching ( we had a huge campus) ... 

That's when i got to know about Salim Ali, the birdman of India...a leading ornithologist.

We actually used to refer his book on birds.

It was nice ..... we'd lie on the grass , note down what birds were there on the trees... their plumage colours, calls, beak shapes....  

Wait wait wait wait....................................Are you by any chance thinking      

"Beak Shapes?? "

aaah... what else did you think 'birdwatching' was ?? ;)    ... naa, I developed my skills for that "other" kind when i grew older.

We also had rabbits and turtles in school, that the nature club was kinda responsible for..... and wow, did i love caring for the animals or what? they were so cute! well, the rabbits were smelly... but i adored the little turtles.

Hey, i just realised that the first time when i ever actually wanted to punch someone with ALL my strength...out of sheer hate... was around this time.

I remember we came to school one morning and found that 1 turtle was missing. Later, our teacher told us about this 1 guy who stood on the turtle to see how much weight it could withstand on its shell, and it died.

I was so ANGRY. I just wanted to see that guy and beat the living crap outta him. Believe me, I was a very timid child generally.

The poor turtle... I felt so sorry for it.

Which reminds me, a friend had a turtle at home too .... it was called 'Leonardo'   ... yup, as kids we really were fans of the teenage mutant ninja turtles...and my friend had named his after the character ! 

U guys don't remember it, do you? here... take a look.

Its been so long since i heard that title song... didnt u love the Pizza-crazy, martial-artists that they were?

Watch the video on youtube. 

I . random. pink.

woah, woah, woah... i'm back at that hazy place in my head. u know, the one where i don't really know what its all about anymore.... its like i miss something, but i don't. 

i dunno if u've ever felt like this, but i feel like writing each and every dayy. yup... i love writing in here... its like so liberating.  I have like all these one-liners that i wish i could write pages about. sadly, i just know the single lines..no idea of what goes beyond 'em. I'm not too good at this.

what usually happens is that i get random thoughts and i wanna write about 'em that very instant... but i'm either doing sumthing or going sumplace that i end up saving 'em as drafts in my cell.... srly, take a look (not that u have a chance at that.bah!)  n u'll see soo many of them saved up.

i'm tryin to work with it.

So, I finally did it. I bought women's underwear. 

NO, I'm neither a perv nor am I a transvestite. The pink chaddi campaign ring bells? Cudn't find pink men's undies in the store . But i did send 'em. yes, it feels good, but it also feels incomplete at the same time. Is this it? Has the flame fizzled out? So want to do more. Sending underwear's not a lot more than symbolic. Let's see if sumthing materialises.

Ok, there's people with friends, there's people without friends.... but it gets plain SAD when the most important ppl in ur life include Joey, chandler and the gang! 

and when that happens, there's only one thing left to do. switch that @!$ TV off.

TV has a huge role to play in screwing a lotta ppl's lives ( not exactly excluding mine ) . All work and no play makes jack a dull boy, rembr? and if jack's got a dish.. deep shit.

Why am I telling you this? cuz I know.yup, no hiding it anymore.. in those umpteen  excruciatingly tough times,uve said to urself... "dude, get a grip. Turn it off. experience reality. " 

You know what's important? To know what you want. cuz i don't really know the purpose of this post anymore. 

crap aside, a pretty freaky thingy happened last week. U know how these pizza ppl say that u get urs in 30 minutes or less? i saw these 2 dominoes guys zipping  across the road , i thought of the same thing. I mean how can they be sure , so sure? traffic jams happen u know... or worse, what if they get a tyre puncture? bike breakdowns happen, right?

2 evenings later

Pizza guy, pulling his bike on the side. flat tyre. freaky.

Sometimes i feel i use this blog as a secondary storage device for my thoughts. Kinda like Dumbledore's pensieve. You just take out ur thoughts, put 'em in it. lock it in the cupboard.

So taking a cue from another blog i read , here's... stuff...

Oh, and the picture above doesn't really mean a thing..... it doesn't even show his pensieve.. i'm wondering why this is here.

- I prefer the 'virgin' newspaper in the morning. U know, when its neatly folded by the machines, not hand folded when sumone's already read it. 

- I DON'T have a cabinet full of medals and trophies .

- I'm paranoid about locking doors. I check and then re-check.

- I have talked to myself more than once ( read often). Includes singing.

-I'm NOT a morning person. If i've just woken up, stay away.

-I'm a wannabe gymrat.

- I love being near water bodies ( not necessarily limited to the bath tub) .They're soothing. 

-  I hate it when ppl write 'mah' or 'ma' instead of 'my'.  I mean C'MON, u passed ur boards, didnt u ?!! Its the same number of letters... type M-Y. plus, its not cool.

- I do not think I write well ( dont comment)

- I wish I was funnier . In conversation.

- Grammar is important to me. yeah, lookin at you .

- Music has been creeping up on me . slowly.

- I'm bad at instantaneous reactions. I almost always think about how great it wudve been if i'd said this other thing instead.

- The moment you stop trying to be cool, you WILL be.

- I would love to help out an NGO someday.  Feel strongly for our environment. Freakin clean up the emissions man!

-  I've ordered Diet Coke,fries, pizza n lasagna at the same time.  No, not cuz diet coke tastes better.

- I'm a bum magnet. I attract them in swarms.

- It feels incomplete if I haven't written here for a while.

- My cell's wallpaper is the 'powered by blogger'  logo seen above . Yes, I fall to new lows everyday.

later.

ps: I'm not particularly proud of this one.

little discoveries.

OK, this is my most embarrassing confession yet.

Generally i'm kinda witty about gadgets and technology and stuff, as in i can usually find the way to work them....  but there was this one problem that i kinda wanted a solution to, but never got the time to look into how to do it... so i took the easy way out and asked a fellow blogger... "how do i upload pictures?"    ...  man, that was a new low in my technology-embracing history :P

anyhow, i know, n i'm gonna use it!  here goes... some interesting stuff i captured. 

Ive been pretty saddened by the entire anti-love campaign all over the country, which kinda gives the impression of war scenes from the Mahabharat from TV actually taking place this Valentine's day...u know, with the arrows n stuff? ( what i never got was the ability of both the opponents to shoot arrows in a straight line, so much so that the arrows actually collide tip to tip ) with one group trying to "Uphold Indian tradition" and the other trying to restore sanity... like an actual "Morality Crusade" ... sheesh!

So, I'm walking on the road,  humming a song , trying to look cool (hah!)... and i see this 'gaddha' on the road and guess what, IT LOOKS LIKE A HEART!!!   The cool thing is the irony of the situation today, with the raging topic being the Women of India and Pubs and Valentine's.

Its a sign,isn't it?   Well, just hope that love prevails! ;)

Let me tell you something about Alex first. Consider the following backdrop.... we're in the 1st year, first semester exams.... tomorrow's the toughest and THE most notorious subject ka exam! its 3 AM.

Scene 1:  THEN.

Moi:  !@#$@#$, i'm so damn sleepy... and i still don't know anything for tomorrow! want some black coffee? 

Alex: yea sure..

**  Regretfully, as we found out that day, black coffee makes both of us even more sleepy.

Moi: Wow, i can't believe coffee doesn't work on us..  kya kare?  I can't go to sleep, i will totally FLUNK! 

Alex:  Who gives a shit... i'm dozing off, its just an exam yar, we'll pass it next time .

** Alex goes off to sleep. I persist, while my soul yells " f*ck you. SLEEP!!!"

Moral of the story: Alex doesn't give a damn.

Scene 2: NOW.

                              The list on Alex's ghar ka door. He's working now.

                 

Still think Life doesn't screw us?

"Mangalored" now?

oh my god!!!  what the bloody f**** is wrong with us Indians? why are we plainly so intent on making ourselves the laughing stock of the entire planet?? There seems to be such an everlasting conflict of sorts within our boundary at all times. I agree that we're the largest democracy in the world, but does that mean that for every line of thought, there's just hordes of people trying to step on top of each other and be heard? talk about cut throat competition.

I'd like to quote Karan Thapar's article in HT titled "Incredibly Stupid India" .He says "They're attacking women for drinking in mangalore, in Mumbai, they're closing down shops called karachi sweets and banning the sale of Pakistani books.Elsewhere,courts are issuing notices to the producer of Slumdog Millionaire on the grounds the name is offensive.Doesn't it seem as if,suddenly, everyone's lost all sence of balance and perspective?"   

He then goes on to say "India is supposed to be a tolerant, liberal democracy.So howcome we can't accept a name like 'karachi sweets' and buy pakistani books? Hinduism is supposed to venerate women,we supposedly elevate them as goddesses.So howcome we thrash them when they walk into a pub?India is supposed to be an aspiring and dynamic society.So why can't a name like Slumdog Millionaire be appreciated,but is,instead,considered offensive? These are disturbing questions."

I totally agree with the guy.Throughout history, India has always been THE country for tolerance. Everyone has always been welcome here. From the persecuted persians, to the mughals, christians... everyone.For nearly a 1000 years, the major religion here was Buddhism, which is seemingly another way to say tolerance. There is no other place that has such an eclectic people in its bosom. And we've all happily come to constitute this great nation. But divisive politics, I feel is turning to be our weakness.

Consider the recent Mangalore incident.Its just so shameful for us. We call ourselves a free country, don't we? how can we tell someone ( read women) how to lead their lives? I happened to watch it on the news ... and it was horrific, the way those goons were physically abusing women! Its rightly being said, "Is beating up women in our culture?"  NO.

The entire Idea of Hinduism has always laid stress in respect for women, and the political outfits have conveniently skipped this, in lieu of  acting as the "big brother" . BullCrap.  There is an incredibly simple explanation to the media being at the Amnesia pub in mangalore, a supposedly nondescript place for cameras to be positioned, just before the incident happened..so that it could be recorded and telecast! Honestly tell me.... did any of you even know about sumthing called the Ram Sena ??  well, now we do. Face it, the idea of publicity by the political wing is far from subtle. Its almost as if they've announced their arrival.  Freaks.

The whole thing's just sad. 

There's another piece of information in HT that's interesting here.... A book called Economy and Food in Ancient India by Dr. Om Prakash, a retired lecturer from a delhi college. The book states that there were a lot of alcoholic beverages in ancient India and everybody drank them, including women. Sita's own favourite drink, Dr. Om Prakash found ,was maireya, a kind of liquor also served to guests at weddings. In the early Buddhist and Jain works "taverns and drinking shops are frequently mentioned" and from the Jatakas we learn that even women and hermits drank hard on some occassions.   HA!!!   Now that is some hard research . I wish the radicals get their facts right before pointing a finger.

Oh Oh... This one's SOOOOOO funny!  You know how every Valentine's Day, Extremist groups go on wrecking Archies' and troubling lovebirds? This year's gonna be different... remember I just wrote about how every point has 2 different sides of people just waiting to make themselves heard here?  This particular "Morality Debate" just got another side, a Jammu Party who call themselves the "National Panthers Party" . Armed with red chillies and pepper, the NPP says come V-Day, they'll be ready to take on those obstructing and opposing valentine's day. They even have a Slogan: "Nirbhay ho kar manao Valentine's Day" .   Well, there's one party all of us are voting for , aint it??  ;)

cheers!  

ps:  Ladies.....  You DO have every right to do whatever you want with yourselves... and I hope most of us register that fact.