Wording 2014!

Well, we are barely 2 days away from 2015 and Woah I know half of us are still wondering how quickly the year passed by.. And the remaining 50% gearing up to welcome the new year with their arms wide open...

2014 was indeed a roller coaster year for me! I graduated from college, the work life began, I took a detour exploring places, met some wonderful people and connected back to some old buddies...

You too would have already started playing the entire 2014 movie at the back of your mind and wondering all the twists and turn your life took this year!

And just like that.. You would have had your up's and downs, success and failures, love and heartbreaks, positives and the negatives...! But what did this concoction all boil down to.. Perhaps you learned, perhaps you grew, perhaps you turned out to be more strong than you thought you would! More wiser, more smarter.

None said take life seriously.. Neither did anybody say take it lightly! A dear friend of mine cleared out this confusion for me.. He said, take life seriously when you are out there to achieve something, to prove your mettle! Put in all your commitment and dedication; But at the same time if you fail to achieve those targets do not be disheartened.. Take it easy.. Failures only teach you, try it again the next day. Breathe and let go....

I am not getting in the life analyzing paradox and trying to bomb you with optimism v/s pessimism debate! I am just saying that happy or sad, every emotion has its time.. Do cry it out of you feel like.. And do laugh whole heatedly  if you feel like! Its just a matter of time before the other side turns up.

Law of diminishing marginal utility you see.  The more you have of anything.. The less you will want it! This economic theory did connect well to me this year!

Oh so why am in a sudden gyani baba mode is what you must be wondering! Naa.. I am perhaps in my self evaluating mode, trying to pen down my vague direction less thoughts!

This is my last blog for the year 2014! Thank you so much for reading my blogs previously and bearing with them all throughout the year! To all those wonderful souls who were the reason for me smiling.. Thank you!

Who doesn't love being happy! I obviously do..as the filmy dialogue goes.. 'Haso Jiyo Muskurao, kya pata kal ho na ho'

All ready to brace 2015, hoping it to be another exploring ride!

Greetings of the season folks!

Spread love. Spread Happiness. Keep Smiling

Cheers :)

Enthusiasm is her

In this beautiful journey of life.. We meet so many wandering souls just like us! A few match our frequencies and we instantly connect to them.

Once you observe people, you'll know everybody is walking a path, that is parallel with the path you are walking, but each has its own way.

I am lucky enough to meet bunch of people I cherish! There's one girl whom I met a year and a half back in my college, and this write up is about that enthusiastic human being.

Off late I met her at her cousin's wedding reception ( Yes, I was duly invited . We do such crazy things like a boss. Na jaan.. Na pehchaan types)

As soon as I saw her, I hugged her! I was meeting her almost after 6 months. I realized nothing changed. She still greeted me with a swear word and we burst into laughter. That's her style.. She greets people close to her like this!

That day this girl was blooming in an euphoria mode! She was running around, taking care of the guests that stepped in, and  was still enthusiastically clicking pictures with the bride and the groom! As I was sitting back and tasting the delicious delicacies... I observed this mad woman! 

Simple. Smiling. Giving. People's person. The tom boy. The insane tam brahm.
THE CHARU NATARAJAN.

As she reads this I am sure to receive a nicely worded text message ( sarcasm) and I will more than anything love it.

There are few people who come with such great positive vibe that make all the pessimism disappear in you, if any. These people find happiness in making other people smile.

Speaking of all this , does not mean we never fought. A sugar coated relation can cause you diabetes, I like hot and sweet.

Possessing the same temperament as of mine, we had clashes! But just as they temper shoots up faster.. It comes down faster too. She isn't perfect. Nobody is!

But what I love about her is she is herself! And that's the whole saga of life.. If you are not yourself, what's the point in living anyways.

That day, Charu's positive energy made me realize that I really crib over petty issues. There is a lot to be lived there. In this uncertain environment.. Why waste time worrying.. Kick those worries. Go mad. Go crazy. Dance to the tunes of life. You don't need alcohol to get you drunk. Surround yourself with such  people and you'll know ;)

Cheers

P.S : Charu, thank you :) 

Straight from the heart.

Recently I bagged the biggest feminist award at work! Trust me I am now certified for it and I am proud of it.

Feminism is a huge topic. The 21st century liberal media platforms have all the more gloomed this concept and hence it became a popular headlined word across all platforms. But a woman speaking her rights or sharing an equal position with her male counterparts has existed since times immemorial. The Vedic period speaks high about the role of woman contributors to the society just like today.

This such a vast and one of my favorite topics that I may not actually stop over it.  But trust me though I am a feminist I  have no enmity with men! I love them and men do make a major chunk of my friends.

 My fairy tale blog raised eye brows asking me, 'Gargi, whats wrong? Are you in love? 'since this not my usual  journo of  writing.

Well I did manage to give answers to them justifying that such is not the case. The truth is just like every normal  girl, I too have had my share of love! I have fallen in love and out of love! And every time I have had this experience I have loved it and I wait for time to reveal more of it! I am an optimist and my belief in it still exists and hence the earlier blog.

Movies like Queen, Chak de India, Inkaar have always got me going! I love them, for the woman independence they portrayed and most importantly the message they conveyed to me,.. 'life moves on'

Across the length and breadth of anything you do, You shall meet people...Some you may like, some you may love, some you may hate. But every person's role in your life is limited. They come, they spread their magic across and move away! The fun is to live in those breath taking moments and move on.

Easier said than done they say! But eventually everybody comes to the Euphoria mode just like kangana did in the movie queen, or to certain realizations just as chitrangada of 'Inkaar'! Eventually we all find solitude.

This brings me to my point. Nothing is permanent. The fun is to live in the moment. For Oscar Wilde once quoted, 'They spoil the whole romance by making it last forever'. And for those bad memories, remember they taught you something you would have never learned otherwise...

And for the rest remember what goes around comes around...

Happy weekend folks :)
  

Fairy Tale

How beautiful a feeling is love! To simply know that a very glimpse of you makes the other person smile! That natural laughter of yours poisons him like nectar! He knows you'll do ddlj palat palat before you go out of his sight! It is indeed a fairy tale for you.

But just like Cinderella, this too has to end at the stroke of 12! Things take a ugly detour! You are in a dilemma! You know life moves on and you have to match its pace! You cannot afford to stay behind.

But for all unknown reasons those memories cloud you...and want to drag you back! You only wish you had a time machine and that you could go back and fix it! You know you can't and you have to live through heart wrenching things. Life always gives you options, either to move on or stay stagnant! And we always choose to move on.. we always do. Because stagnancy, redundancy leads to slow death.

Time..!! sometimes surrendering things to time is the key! But general human tendency, is we want to run and chase everything we can! Failing to realize, no matter how early you want things to pace up.. Time will only move at its pace, and one should match up their patient level with it.

Let go off  bonds, the strong ones will find its ways through all tornadoes! And in either of the situation you will know! Either the prince will find Cinderella with the shoe she left back and make  fairy tale a thing of reality, or will give you a feeling of contention that there is still a lot to go and probably you are on the wrong page of the book!

For everything happens for a reason, with time you will know..

Dream. Hope. Believe.

English Vinglish

The other day me and a few colleagues along with my boss, were seated in a training room discussing some usual office stuff! Conversations slipped from formal to casual and jokes surged in! And the reason for a whole hearted laugh was given by me! I spelled a word so miserably, that my team burst into laughter!  On top, to add to the embarrassment, I justified saying ‘’My tongue got rolled’’.. And I could only get a what-did-you-just-say look from Vaidya (READ : Vaidyanathan Iyer )

“Tongue got rolled.. What English is that Gargi’’...?, he commented! And of everything Era and Firdos, two of my good buddies at work could do, was join vaidya in further making jokes out of me. You know friends are meant for that.. Before they could even pick you up they make sure they have their share of laugh! Shamelessly I laughed at my own silly mistake.. For had I been in their place.. I would have imitated the same thing.

Though I do not recollect the word that I spelled, but I remember Vaidya telling me that it had a weird mix of Marathi and Malu accent! Heavens! English and its Pronunciations... Perhaps the importance it gets from us, Indians... it wouldn’t get from any other corner of this globe! We find a great deal in speaking it crisp and right! And why not, we are pro’s at things we do!

This little fun conversation at work triggered a few thoughts in my mind! Rather it streamlined the bits and pieces my brain had stored since long!

I do not want to get into the battle of; if English language should be given importance over our native tongue and related topics! All that I want to put across are a few light hearted thoughts! We already live a way too serious life!!!! I do not intend to add to the seriousness!

Shit Happens! That’s life! A person who has been educated in an English medium school could make a mess of that language... while a vernacular student, who might have a little MTI problem, may throw a vocab at you, to understand which you might want to refer to a dictionary! Irony, isn’t it?

Again an accent is something we do not appreciate! Agreed it sounds gross when a normal English word is spelled  in a manner that reminds you of the various existing Indian dialects, but isn’t it funny that when an Italian, French or a Spanish person speaks English with a hint of their native language, it is a thing of fancy! Serious Double Standards we deal with!

All this is so funny and so paradoxical that sometimes I wonder what possible solution I could have! If I say an accent is ok, I am sure as hell I will have my English teachers slam me down with all possible logical explanation! And If I say, Thy English shall be perfect, I will again trigger debates!

So let me take a neutral way! ( The safest bet, perhaps!) Let us treat every language with the beauty it carries from its origin! Yes, we do speak the purest form of this globalized language, so let us not fall into the glamorous western trap and try to neither adapt their accent nor mix it up with various permutations and combinations of Indian languages and their dialects , just like I did ( Mistake accepted)

 Let us neither underrate it nor overate it! Keep it simple silly, should be the tagline!

Yes, I am a proud Indian and I take pride in saying that everything we do is a perfecto! It isn’t just for statistics that the Indian ICU and its human resources are just as precious!

 If you are struggling with it, be rest assured, you are not the sole soul.. You have bunch of idiots in the league who act as if they are Shakespeare but cannot even the compete the understanding you pursue of the language! Learning takes time, and when it comes to a particular language, it hell does! But eventually you will master it! For those who aren’t struggling, remember, learning a language is a never ending process! Make mistakes.. Learn! The learning curve can be tricky at times but is eventually fun!

Till then let’s keep it light and bright!                          

Adios Amigo!

The Goan Fun

GOA... the Indian Las Vegas.. a typical holiday destination for Indians! Being a wanderer I wanted to strike off this smallest state of my country off my bucket list.. ( yes I did not visit Goa prior..hands down)! But I finally did... Witnessed this tiny miracle in the southern part of India during the long weekend of 15th, 16th and 17th August.. The Independence Celebration in Goa with my office colleagues ( yea.. I am a working girl now).

This trip was an epic roller coaster! 5 of us hit the road.. and as each travel story has unique characters mine too did... These epitome of epicness were :

Nilesh Menon ( our guide.. his car.. his camera.. his hats..and his description of goa )

Dipesh Solanki ( the 11th hour entry and the questionnaire person)

Era Savla ( the sleeping beauty )

Firdos Patel ( the addicted -to- clicking- pictures- of- herself and sleep talking person)

and finalyy Me.. ;)

Not to forget the lovely Hyundai ascent that we traveled in, which did not betray us once during the whole journey.. except when the Tyre got punctured.. when the ac stopped working and yes.. that heart in mouth moment when  the car trunk wasn't closing..and after several attempts of deep thinking and actions, we found that we actually did not unlock it!

 Sarcasm aside.. but that car was one reason that I enjoyed the journey even more! The scenic view we witnessed en route Goa.. those roller coaster roads of Maharashtra.. the excellent roads of Karnataka and the Romantic roads of Goa! not to forget the the time we spent debating,discussing,singing,chasing... all added to a wonderful journey! Hats off to Nilesh for driving to and fro.. We experienced the best long drive!

DESTINATION GOA: Well what happens in Goa stays in Goa... ;) While North Goa was full of entertainment..(lets not get into what type of entertainment ) South Goa was scenic with its Portuguese architecture..Calm roads and churches!

We started with North Goa.. checked in at a hotel near Baga beach.. went round the bush shopping, exploring, drinking and eating mouth watering Goan delicacies at various places in North Goa.. ! Not to forget the epic beaches and the bird watching that followed (pun intended)
 If there was somebody who gave us that extra little rest because of her speed in getting ready.. it was Firdos! She had all the possible things in her bag.. which we should have probably forgotten.. on the other hand there was Dipesh whom we dragged into the car with just his track pant and gym t-shirt that he carried to office! If I was the one deeply studying menu cards.. Era rarely ate anything making me feel all the more guilty..since even the green salad ordered for her was half eaten by me.. not to forget the King fish that I was already feasting on!

Sunday is when we checked out.. out of the hotel..party mood and checked in visiting Fort Agoda and the Basilica of Bonn Jesus! 

I loved both the places.. while the sky at the fort greeted me, the basilica gave me the much needed serenity! Also for the fact that finally the focus of photo was shifted from Firdos to us! No debate.. she deserved to have the major chunk of pictures! She was the pretty face of the trip

Dipesh and me should be thanked for the classy pictures we clicked.. ( sadly that camera is now dead.. wonder what we actually did to it), Nilesh should be thanked for his mind blowing sleep awakening pj's at 3 am  and Era.. thank you for keeping the count of bets and competition scores.. Her smiling face and sporty attitude made us even more enthusiastic!

ME.. I fell in love.. again with myself.. few revelations came my way bringing along a bunch of energy as I touched Bombay back! I know the description of this journey is not something unique or different! Every person visiting this particular destination will plus minus have the same fun and come home back with all zeal and zest!

But for people like me who are hooked on to journey's.. every trip becomes a teacher and a friend..! We touch the feeling of Euphoria as we travel more... and explore the unexplored... Yes I still shout like a child... as we entered tunnels or as I spot a peacock near fort Agoda.. But isn't that was life is all about... finding solace in little things.. :)

P.S : Jigsaw of the wonderful times spent with a bunch of lovely human beings.. :)

Until next time, Keep SMILING :)

The modern age Draupadi and Sita

The most deteriorating acts to be ever quoted in the Hindu Mythology that I remember of are the Draupadi’s Vastraharan and Sita’s agneepariksha! Both an equally demeaning and insulting act that brought utter shame to the society!

In compliance of their so called “dharm”, the men found it convenient to shift their sufferings, pain, and torture quite conveniently to their female counterparts. However, it is said that the mistakes of the history are something the society should learn from and thereby in whatsoever endeavour not repeat the same!

What is happening today in and around us is completely opposite! We seek to find immense pleasure in repeating these filthy practices time and again! The then vastraharan and agneepariksha are today rapes, harassment, domestic violence, etc.! Just like the courtiers of Hastinapur stood in silence as they watched the plight of draupadi and just as King Rama believed the “dhobi” who accused Sita; we as society continue to do that!

A lot has been spoken in this regard! Debates and discussions have been aired on all forms of media! The dramatic candle light marches, social media protests have all had their share of cake. But what has been ignored is the collective social responsibility our society has towards its female counterparts! Strict laws, regulations, quick redressal are just few topics that can help to combat these issues.

On a larger scale, the mentality of objectifying a woman needs to change. Not to forget, I, we, you all form a part of this so called society.

If you ask me, Draupadi and Sita are still alive today! When a woman’s intimate life is being commented and criticized I recollect the incidence of Mahabharta when draupadi was commented on her character as she shared her marriage with 5 men.

There are few acts which do not contribute to crime, but they do contribute to lowering the dignity of a woman. Examples: Filthy comments on western dresses, verbal torcher by the in laws, the educational and social restrictions and so on. You name it and you have it!

I am not trying to suggest or advocate solutions! All I am saying is let woman of this century not replicate our mythological characters in regard to the plight they faced ! It is time we mean the term “civil society” by our civilized ways and behaviours.

P.S: I do not intend to harm any religious practices and sentiments. All views and opinions expressed hereby are solely intended to address women related problems

Being Frank!!

On a FRANK note..." Thank you so much everybody for the wonderful response on my previous blogs!!  I dearly appreciate them"

                 While the above gratitude was in my mind since long..my thoughts rushed to the word  frank! Myself being a frank person.. I began to anaylyse the pros and cons of this "rare-to-be-found" behaviour!

                 I am a "on-the face" person except cases where extreme emotions are involved! But this behaviour has not only brought me true friends but also lead me to "n" number of fights with dear ones and the list includes my family too!May be if i would have manipulated facts a bit ten ,I might have avoided these clashes...

                But being frank is an inbulit quality and no matter waht  I cant change this! Like minded creatures will agree to this fact!

                 Those clashes though tear-bringing have always given me a true and fair view of my relationships with different people!! At times I lost friends that I thought were dear to me ( Thank god for that), at times my bonds with people grew and the trust got stronger while some conflict of interst still continue to be...

         Being frank is a tough -tough task..not everybody can resort to it...it will bring you hell lot of tears,enemity and what not rubbish...but if your being one it may give you a "true and fair" view of things around you!! Unless you want to play a good deal of politics  or are/plan to be a diplomat or are a celebrity....plss do not stick to frankness....it is a danger line...(pun intented)
   Statutory Warning : Before you try being frank, let me warn you that this act can be highly                                                hazardous to your emotional qoutient                                                     

 

                            Till then.. " keep smiling"