A far cry

Once upon a time Gabriel heard a cry

A cry that was emancipating,

A cry that made him want her,

But his quest became relentless

He searched her everywhere

From the dense forests to the underworld;

Agast! She was nowhere.

Was she like a mist?

Or a drop of hue or an oyster deep below the ocean?

She was a mystery.

Gabriel wanted her

He became restless,

He became a wanderer;

He wanted to consummate her.

All for a cry?

But he found her

She was in 'inferno'

It was an eerie feeling when Gabriel saw her

Her soul was stuck in a mirror.

It was in unbearable pain,

Gabriel couldn't watch her in pain,

He set her free

Her soul bid adieu with a final kiss.

An interview with Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal published in Yuva.

Force To Reckon

By Tanusree Charaborty

Vidyut Jammwal who plays John Abraham’s opponent in Force, wants to be the biggest action star in Bollywood. This model-turned-actor bagged a role in the movie accidentally. The actor who was travelling when the auditions were going on, met the director after his return and showed him one of his action videos. The director instantly liked him and asked Vidyut to audition for the role after he was briefed on the plot. He beat hundreds of people and bagged the role of Vishnu – a normal guy whose character gets progressively psychotic.

Life after your debut in Force: Life has almost taken a 360 degree turn. Everything seems to be better. I am enjoying the kind of attention I get these days.

Your martial art repertoire: I started learning martial arts at the age of three. I have spent most of my childhood at an ashram in Kerala where I learned it. I am also a National level gymnast. I even have a stunt team of 12 boys who reside in the slums of Matunga and Dharavi in Mumbai who I have trained myself. The martial art that I practice is an amalgamation of different forms such as jujutsu, gymnastics, etc.

Action flicks or experimental roles: I want to set a benchmark as an action hero so I would prefer to do more action flicks. But at the same time, I would like to try roles in comedies, dramas and romantic movies too. I would love to experiment with the roles I play.

Vidyut in real life and in reel life: There is a contrast. In real life, I believe in integrity and honesty. I am not a party animal and there are no late nights for me.
Rugged look or clean shaven look: It entirely depends on my mood. I love both looks.

Your idea of a perfect woman would be: Well, the person should be open and honest. Self introspection is a must. I believe in beauty that’s within.

One thing that no one knows about you: On a day when I am not shooting, I train for 10 hours.

Essentials in a guy’s closet: A pair of superb shoes, sports glares and every guy should own own a good suit and an amazing watch.
  
Social networking to you is: A superb tool. But honestly speaking, this phenomenon hasn’t hit me yet.

Your thoughts on the saying, “You’re single until you’re married”: It is just a state of mind. If a person is committed then she/he is simply committed. Be it before marriage or after marriage. I do not believe in this saying.

One actress you find sexy: There are two actually – Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.

Worst pick-up line that a woman has used on you: Where are the women who use pick-up lines these days?

[As told to Tanusree Chakraborty]

This is one of my published works. The article got published in December 2012 issue of Yuva magazine.

True Grit

By Tanusree Chakraborty

Would you contemplate skiing 350 miles, braving sub-zero temperatures across the Greenlandic ice cap instead of heading for sun-baked Goa? Deeya Bajaj did just that. She skipped the mall and movie plans like most her age and participated in an arduous cross-country skiing expedition held in Greenland earlier this year. At 17, she is one of the youngest skiers’ to have skied across Greenland, braving temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius, also making it one of her toughest expeditions.

Her main aim to participate in the expedition was to put forth the issue of the girl child. Her parents are patrons of a children’s home in Haridwar for children of leprosy patients. These children are shunned by society and, sometimes their parents, because of the social stigma attached to the disease. “This home, run by Divya Prem Sewa Mission, provided shelter for boys and I initiated the idea of starting a girls’ wing at the home,” says Deeya. People pledged money for every kilometre that Deeya skied and she raised R3 lakh for the girls’ wing.

The Mission agreed to use their present infrastructure and to initially bring in 12 girls, who were siblings of the resident boys. “The award I felt recognised this effort and I am glad I was able to do my bit for the cause,” she adds.

Talking to Yuva of her experience, she says, “I feel I am more confident taking on challenges now.  The tough conditions and the white out blizzards had me dipping into my physical and mental strength reserves to ensure that I didn’t give up. Being the youngest in the expedition team, I could have slowed down the team and they would have understood, but I didn’t want to be the weak link.”

Running West to East across the Greenlandic ice cap, the Trans Greenland Ski Expedition is one of the expeditions in the Polar Trilogy, which also includes skiing to the North Pole and the South Pole. Following the line of the Arctic Circle between Kangerlussuaq on the West Coast and Isortoq on the East coast, the Trans Greenland Ski Expedition entails a full crossing of Greenland, from coast to coast.

The 19-day expedition entailed handling unpredictable weather conditions, continuous blizzards and high altitude. “We proudly unfurled the national flag on 31 May, 2011, on successfully completing the expedition,” says Deeya.

Though a part of the Arctic, the interior of Greenland closely resembles the interior of Antarctica, with unbroken snow as far as the eye can see. She started the expedition in Kangerlussuaq, on the west coast of Greenland and skied almost 550 kilometres to Isertoq, on the east coast via the celebrated Dye II station.

This girl from Delhi also received the Aspire -TIE Young Achievers Award earlier this year. Introduced to skiing at a very early age by her father Ajeet Bajaj, the first Indian to ski to the North and South Pole, we can say that skiing is in her DNA. Adventurous at heart, she has participated in activities like trekking, kayaking, rafting, scuba diving and zip lining, to name a few.

She went skiing for the first time in Auli when she was just eight, “My inspiration for this facet of my life is definitely my father. He has numerous accomplishments under his belt and I have always wanted to follow his footsteps,” says Deeya. Her mother is her guiding light as far as her values are concerned. “She encouraged me to utilise my passion for the outdoors to give something back to society,” she adds.

 “One of the biggest challenges I feel was the cold. At no point, were we comfortable. All actions had to be deliberate and thought out and I couldn’t be absent minded at any point of time. When out of the tent, I had to keep moving otherwise my fingers would freeze,” she says. Another big challenge was the wind. Sometimes it would get to 30kmph and while skiing it would actually knock her down if she was skiing in the opposite direction.

During the expedition, the team which included Deeya's father Ajeet Bajaj, Keith Heager (team leader), 63-year-old Tony, Koen and Lieve, a Belgian couple, Salo and Ulrich their mushers, not to forget the 28 Huskies (who carried all their equipment on a sled) skied around 550km over 19 days, skiing an average of 30km per day. “It was tiring skiing for eight hours every day and at the start of the expedition I remember being extremely tired, but after a few days I got used to it,” says Deeya.

This 12 grade student of Shri Ram School, Delhi, also enjoys baking, reading and listening to music. She is also a national level swimmer, has a black belt in Taekwondo, and is a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certified advance open water diver. Deeya has been kayaking since she was 11 and has kayaked on the many rapids of river Ganga. Her future plans are to pursue Environmental Studies in America.

Her message is simple, “If you have a positive attitude, then you can do anything,” and with wisdom beyond her years, says “We are from privileged families and it is up to us to not take that for granted and to try and make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.”

Shards of a mirror

Gullible she was

The only thing she wanted was to resonate;

Resonate to her love,

It meant the world to her

The world, where she had no boundaries

She was a free bird.

She wanted to be his queen

But her only mistake---she was not as the Helen of Troy.

What beauty had to do with sanity?

She only wanted to succumb to her love.

Aghast! He did not turn out to be the knight whom she dreamt of

In the disguise of a knight, he was a beast

Yes, a beast who would do anything but to consummate her soul

She was a mere sacrificial lamb for him

He never loved her.

When she understood his vested motive,

Her life became like the shards of a mirror.

She was killed by degrees

For her beloved did not deserve her.

But it was too late for her to have her say

The final words she uttered ---- “my soul will haunt you, you are responsible for my death”.

A QUEST

This quest gorges my soul

A quest searching light

A quest that searches me too

This quest will not make me an overreacher,

I’ll be no Faustus seeking light and the dark beyond

I’ll not plunge into that eternal damnation, into darkening of the soul!

I’ll be a wanderer rendering thoughts, blending minds.

My quest is the one which will burn the dim flickers with light

A quest that will see me bind hearts

A quest that will help light hang in hearts and trees

A quest which will see hearts blend into a living Heart

And to make a difference

I want to follow the path of that light

Without this light my life will grope in the murk I distantly see

I now see that light loom.

Is it this that I seek?

Light takes over me….

My quest will continue.

It was not her mistake

For it was not her mistake that she was white

Neither was it his mistake that he was a black moor

But they loved each other

Loved each other like the sky loves the sea,

Like the dew drops love the leaves,

Like a bee loves the nectar……

Two bodies they were but one soul

If she was the breathe, he was the heart beating inside her

Soul mates they wanted to be for years and years

But a mere handkerchief became the reason of their demise….

 For the rapacious creature wanted to possess the white ewe

 He was the one who poisoned the Venetian moor’s mind

The moor believed every word of that man

And suspected his soul mate…..

Out of rage he went to the ewe’s bedchamber

And stabbed her to death

She wanted to say till the last moment that she was not to be blamed

But the moor did not listen to her

Yes she was dead but her innocent face wanted to tell

It was not her mistake……

Out of guilt the moor killed himself

For later he realized

It was not her mistake

And so they say love is dangerous

When you are in love you are blindfolded……..

Hungry Kya?

Had a hectic schedule? Back to home after a very tiring day? And guess what? To your utter surprise no one is at home and your are hungry like anything... so here is an instant dish to satisfy your hunger...its very Easy to cook and will take only 10 minutes.
It is called Fu-Yang. Not the typical Korean/Chinese one but this is the one which came out of my experimentation.
Ingredients:
1. 1 egg
2. Noodles/ Maggie (1/2 packet)
3. Chopped tomato (half)
4. Chopped onion (half)
5. Chopped Green Chillies (2)
6. Chilly flakes( half teaspoon)
7. Rock salt (about half teaspoon)


Procedure: 
First of all take an egg and break it in a bowl and mix the above mentioned ingredients in it.
Take a pan and place it on your gas oven. Let it get heated for a few minutes.Then add about 2 teaspoon of refined oil and heat it. After the pan gets heated place the mixture in it, spread it like you do while making  omelette's..do not turn it to the opposite side until it gets golden brown in colour. Again turn the Fu-Yang three to four times (back to back) until a fried smell comes out of it.
Take it out on a plate and have it with tomato ketchup... It's absolutely yummylicious.
Try to cook this dish folks :)

Why do I want to be a Journalist?

“A pen is mightier than a sword”

I could understand the validity of the oft-quoted statement as I slowly developed a keen interest in Journalism in the early days of my college life. I started reading newspapers and watching news channels quite early, just about the time when I was in the ninth standard. And it was only then I started to think, on how it would be to take up a career in Journalism. Initially I questioned myself as to the possibility for me to think on a broader horizon, beyond a sneaking ambition to choose a career in the field. The dynamism, unfolding imagery of everyday world, excitement supplementing them---all prompted a close look into affairs guiding the world. And an interest of such intensity gnawed me into seeing journalism as an appropriate career option. A profession promising endless challenges and matching my sensibility. I was over the last two years or so preparing to give journalism a shot as my professional career if opportunity would dawn on me someday.

I passed my high school and then higher secondary. Then I decided to take up English literature at the undergraduate level and I thought this was an apt choice considering that literature offers insights into society, its inner dynamics and indeed in a large measure into workings of human mind. Close reading of African, Latin American, and Canadian literature helped me not only with a knowledge and vision of different planes of creative insights and ideas but also with a critical awareness that writers at times do look to journalistic reportage too in order to do justice to truths they seek to highlight. A case in point is Marquez’ Chronicle of a Death Foretold, a masterpiece where the author employs journalistic technique to a telling effect.

Literature has made me voice my opinions, to give my individual perspective on a particular issue, analyse things critically and to pen down things in a thoughtful manner. And I think these things are pretty much necessary in journalism as well, as for me literature and journalism are intertwined.

For a journalist it is important to know about the society he/she is living in. I am a feminist and I would like to examine our society from a feminist perspective.

Ours is a patriarchal society and women are thought to be meek and submissive. We are modern beings and living in 21^st century but the notion remains the same. Women are oppressed; they are not allowed to voice their opinions. A stereotype that has been created long back still remains the same that women are best suited for domesticity and this notion is not only relevant to our present day society but it is prevalent since Victorian era. So to challenge this ideology, I want to take up journalism. I want to show that women can do whatever they are asked for. They can play the role of a mother, a sister, a wife, a minister, a journalist as well.

At this point I want to reiterate the quotation that I used in the beginning “A pen is mightier than a sword”. In the field of journalism, a pen and a paper is required to pen down one’s point of view, to critique a system, to fight for justice and who says that women can’t be journalists? And this is one of the reasons that I want to take up this course.

Also as a literature student I can implement some literary tools in a journalistic work and I can also be innovative to look at particular issue/issues from different angles.

As I have mentioned earlier that such a literary great Marquez appropriated journalism in his own way and given a chance, I would do the same.

Also in a global village, I want to share the multiple avenues of technology, human spaces, international, cultural and topological communications to warrant concept of a global citizen. At last but not the least I want to have a feel of today’s world and that is why I want to be a journalist.

WANDERER

This a pilgrim soul

Searching Love, Peace and Mirth

It’s held captive in the morning sunshine

How it shrinks in the twilight

This soul weighed down by so many questions

Which cannot be surpassed?

Where will it meet the answers?

In heaven or in hell?

While in heaven it blooms like a flower

In hell it slithers like a serpent…..

Like Prufrock's, it lies in fragments

Its voice dimly sane turns insane in no time

Its fate is like that of a vagabond

It wanders from place to place

From heaven to hell

From earth to sky

From fire to water

In search of Love, Peace and Mirth…..

An Eye-opener

Today after college our gang of girls decided to have egg rolls. Our favourite food joint is Art of Spices and it is near our college campus. While going there we noticed a man who was eating raw pumpkin. All of us got shocked. This incident was momentary but it somehow became an eye-opener for me.

After coming back home I sat down for sometime and was thinking about the man whom I saw. It provoked me to think about the marginalised class of our country who don’t even manage to get food to feed their stomach. Forget about proper meals, they don’t even get sufficient amount of food to eat for one time a day.

Then I questioned myself that have I ever wondered about their plight and suffering?

Have I ever thought about the fact that each day these people have to struggle for their living? The answer that I got was a “NO”.

We are modern beings, and we have become so much busy in our daily lives that we do not have the time to think about ourselves or our respective families. So how can we even bother to think about the betterment of the “other” class which is also a part of our society?

To solve this problem we need to raise our collective consciousness……

To conclude I would use Derrida’s notion of “play” as form a single incident so many questions came out and this will go on and on because as Derrida said “the centre remains disrupted”.

Yet Another Day!

As usual i woke up late today... had a verbal fight with my mommy darling (I have stopped bothering about these things now a days)...then brushed my teeth and had breakfast...then I was wondering whether to take a bath or not (such a lazy soul I am).

Then finally thought of pulling up my socks and without any fail thought of "studying".

Began with eighteenth century literature... my mind started wavering in the philosophical thoughts of Daddy Wordsworth(as Jimmy porter addresses him), William Blake, Coleridge and Byron...from a lazy soul I became almost a dead soul....these philosophical notions do not get inside my head...

Then finally I settled down with Osborne's "Look Back In Anger"...such a wonderful play that it is....about an angry young man Jimmy Porter who has a problem with the system(society) that he is living in.... hopefully by the next two days I will finish "critically" reading this text...

As university internals are knocking at the doors some serious work is to be done from my end.... lets see whether I can score well this time or not...

Well well I'll try to upload something interesting in my next post...till then cheers... and keep smiling...

BUT IT RAINED

By the windowpane, she was searching a drop of Rain

She looked beyond the horizon

Could she fly there?

A caged bird, she dreamed...

A bird that wanted a life

Of her own.

In gloom, she waited for Rain,

Would the rain wash away this gloom?

She was searching a drop of Rain.

She looked around,

Saw a bunch of children playing near….

Prancing and playful mirth crowded

About her, she walked back down memory

She joined the little ones like a bird

Set free from a cage

Rains came pouring in

Her long wait was gone

She was finding herself again

She lived back the days

When she would freely take on the rains with her friends,

Memory of chai and bhuttas saw tear- drops out of her eyes.

She started paddling her feet in the rain waters

She thanked God for the cage

was a distant memory and

that she was reincarnated as a daughter of

Mother Nature

YES, I WANT TO BREAK FREE...

"I Want To Break Free".... this song by one of my favourite bands Queen is like an Anthem for me.

Whenever I am tired, whenever I feel low, whenever I am stressed I listen to this particular song and believe me you I come down to normality.

When I heard this song for the first time, I was not able to feel the song but gradually I fell in love with the song.

This song inspires me.

In one of my earlier posts I talked about a caged bird who breaks free all the shackles so somehow when I feel like a caged bird, I listen to this track and I get so much intensified by it that literally I feel that---- "yes, I am a free bird ...no one can stop me...I do want to break free...afterall Sky is not the limit for me...I want to fly beyond it...."

Note : To all the bloggers, this song is a must listen for all...so I dedicate this song to you all....

Swayamvar Or Gimmick?

                                         (Image Courtesy: bollywoodhungama.com)

Welcome to the Swayamvar of our very own ‘drama queen’ Rakhi Sawant .

The show is televised on NTDV IMAGINE. God knows what went wrong with the sponsors of this show and what on earth could have made the directors and producers to direct and produce such a horrendous (hillarious it can’t be called, can’t even see humour in it ), so called Reality Show. To gain viewership? To raise TRPs (Television rating Points)?

Just before the show was about to start, Rakhi Sawant ,when interviewed by different NEWS channels said the following things :-

“…agar Sita maiya apna Swayamvar racha sakti hai to mai kyu nahin?"

“… Draupadi ne bhi to Swayamvar mein hi apna pati chuna tha aur mai bhi apne aap ko Modern Draupadi ( mind it) se kam nahin manti hu”

She even said that she wants other women to follow her footsteps…(God help them)

Again when asked about the alliances,“...mera bas chale to mai to 16 ladko se hi shadi kar lu magar kya kar sakte hain chunna to sirf ek hi ko padega na.”

Wait a minute…do you think its very easy to survive through the competition?

Absolutely not. You have to prove yourself to become dearest Rakhi’s groom.

The contestants had to go for a treasure hunt, had to walk on ramp, had to walk on fire (without burning their feet), of course had to dance with our Dancing Diva (bhai pata to chale kiske saath chemistry sabse achi hai? )

And what else could someone expect? Celebrities ki to jaise line hi lagi hai ….sab itne utawle jo ho rahe hain swayamvar ka mahaul dekhne ke liye….

Be it Neeta Lulla(Designer), Mark Robinson (Ex model), Farha Khan (Jewellery designer), Saroj Khan ( Choreographer), Gautami Gadgil ( Actress), our very own Baa ( Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi fame), Rakshandha Khan (Actress), Sakshi Tanwar (Actress)….and all of them are really very very close to our Dancing Queen you see…

So would anyone call it a Swayamwar? (who cares? Isn’t it?)

I personally feel pity for the contestants. Will it be possible for them to regain their mental balance after the show gets over? Difficult to answer.

Recently I read an article on this ‘Swayamvar talent hunt’ in which Rakhi Sawant confesses that no LEGAL CONTRACT has been signed which says that she has to marry the winner of this show. So are we suppose to expect a season 2 of this show?a

Well my advise would be while you are watching this show, for heaven’s sake keep your brains aside!

A RAINY DAY.....

I was sitting down by my window pane. Suddenly a rain drop fell ….. I tried to catch it…but couldn’t do…I was trying to look beyond the horizons, to find a sweet escape for me. In this rainy day I wanted to break free from all the shackles. I was feeling like a caged bird who wanted to fly high in the sky … Was it a sheer imagination? Or I really wanted to do it? I was in a dilemma….

While I was thinking, I saw some children playing in the rain…I wanted to join them but I was reluctant….

I went down the memory lane of my childhood….how I used to enjoy with my lil gang…having ice creams…bhuttas ….singing and dancing …..but now I am not a child anymore…

I have grown up. Does it mean that the child within me has faded away??

I was trying to figure out an answer for this.

The answer that I got was there is still a child hidden inside me….and I instantly joined those children…. I had a great time with them…the few minutes that I enjoyed with them made me regain the zeal that I was searching for from the past few days….

While I was tapping my foot in the rainwater I felt on the top of the world…just like the free bird which broke free from the cage…

I could smell the essence of the soil which made me feel that I have reincarnated as the daughter of mother nature…..

NO MORE PROTOCOLS

Of late I saw a Sean Penn starrer flick called “MILK”. The narration of this film is carried out by Harvey Milk speaking into a tape recorded in 1978, dictating a letter to be read (or in this case, listened to) only in the event of his assassination. As he narrates, we catch glimpses of Milk in front of various groups, giving speeches, using attention-getting opening lines that vary with every crowd. In front of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) crowds, he opens with "My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you." In front of burly straight union workers, he opts for, "My name is Harvey Milk, and sorry I am not what you expected, but I left my high heels at home".

The film flash-forwards a little and "meet cute" turns into a relationship for Milk and Smith, with the formerly business-like Milk growing his hair long and sporting a scraggly beard. Smith gets a little mustache with a short Jack Tripper style haircut. The two drive cross country with a home movie camera, aping it up for each other, having a great time.

Milk and Smith kiss openly, excited to be in business, and the neighbor makes his displeasure known. Milk says they are opening their business and asked how they could become members of the Eureka Valley Merchant's Association. The neighbor tells them they can't become members because if they open their shop, the police will close them down. Milk says it's not against the law to open a business, and the neighbor says "There are man's laws, and there is God's law", and storms across the street back to his liquor store making it clear gay men aren't welcome in the Castro.

In a nutshell this movie portrays the story of Milk and Smith and how they fight for the rights of the Gay community. Untill I saw this movie I did not bother much about the homosexual relationships. But I was really moved by watching this movie.

Now if we talk about the western culture we can find out that western people really do not make a fuss about LGTBs . They are pretty much in favour of homosexual relationships and I think their conception make them so much different from Indians. For that matter if we talk about Indian cinema then we can see that we do have Indian movies related to homosexuality but the viewer ship is almost nil and on the other hand mostly in the minds of Indians the tagline remains “love is blind”… ironical isn’t it? If they consider love to be blind then why can’t they accept homosexuality? Gays are normal human beings like any other person then why can’t they move around freely in India?

If a person wants to spend his/her life with a person of the same sex then why does he/she have to think over it again and again? It is his / her life and only he/ she has the right to take decisions and make choices. Why do they have to answer each and everyone? And why do they have to always listen that this is against ‘the law of nature’?

Nature has not made any such kind of law it is only within the minds of people.

If I can understand the pain, the agony, the humiliation these homosexuals are undergoing,then why can’t the rest of people think likewise?

We can see a number of Gays and Lesbians especially amongst youngsters. If they go out together or hold hands then people make a fuss about it or pretend as if they are eye candies. And if we talk about students who are homosexuals, they have to give so many explanations if they want to rent a house or take Pg accommodations. The scenario is worst in India.

But the Delhi HC has finally legalised homosexual acts between consenting adults by overturning a 149 year-old law. Justice A.P. Shah and S Muralidhar declared unconstitutional a part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalized unnatural sex.

The court held that the provision violated fundamental rights of sexual minorities to life, liberty, equality and the provision regarding prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sex.

So finally it is the time for jubilation for Gay communities. Now even they can live a carefree life.