Do you have too many choices around you…?

Do you agree with me? Do you wholeheartedly believe that we have an entire closet filled with choices and it has become nearly impossible to zero in on one? When I was growing up in the late 80’s and 90’s, I wasn’t aware of the word choice. Or may I say that choices were limited and luxurious. Surely, I wasn’t growing up in a house where luxury came in handy. Whatever my parents placed in front of me was the done deal. Period.

But, times have changed a whole lot. One can find n number of choices in almost everything out there. Cars, houses, clothes, food etc. Infact, it’s bizarre to even think how many types of cereal we have in grocery stores. There is too much to choose from. That is the reason why most of us find ourselves in confusion mode. Too many choices mean too many thoughts. And too many thoughts certainly puts too much of pressure…on your brain! At times I feel late 80’s to 90’s was a better time as compared to today. Here’s an instance: there are like countless grocery stores to buy milk and on top of that countless brand names… where are those days when milk-man came to your door steps.

I’m having a hard time scribbling this article simply because I have a jillion thoughts running in my mind. So, I have to make a choice in my head as to which one is worthy of this article. However, I rest my case! If I print anymore, this will turn into an idiotic post. I genuinely thank my readers for bearing this article. Dhanyevaad.

Lolita's vicious night...

'I was raped', said Lolita. It's always disturbing to hear such statement from a girl. Lolita was a happy go lucky girl living with her small family. She always had something witty to say and held the attractiveness to get undivided attention in the house. Lolita's sixteenth birthday was just around the corner. Just like any girl, she too, was thrilled to celebrate her big one six! All her friends in school glorified their birthday in a very unique manner. Lolita's best friends Reeba and Zara threw incredible get-together for all the girls. Apparently, it was a trend to invite only the girls on the big day. Reeba had a fairy tale theme and all the girls dressed up as princesses. On the other hand, Zara holds a very loud and raucous personality, so she came up with a funky theme. All the girls dressed up in the weirdest manner.

Finally, it was Lolita's time to brainstorm on a theme. Her personality is to always look prim and proper. So, she decided upon long dresses with absolutely breath-taking jewelry and flirtatious stilettos. All the girls received the invitation and got started with their shopping. The birthday was just two months away. And yes for girls, the prep-work begins two months prior to a party. Selecting the dress, getting second, third, sometimes fourth opinion on the dress; finding matching stilettos and of course jewelry is always a hassle. Months just flew by in shopping and gossiping about the party in school. Finally, it was the D-day. The party had to take place in Lolita’s house and she decorated the house a night before. Lolita knew her family would interfere so her parents planned a day out. Everyone was set to arrive at 5pm. Lolita took about 2 hours to do her makeup; wear her long strap-less purple dress with silver beads all over it. She looked beautiful.

The girls started arriving and Lolita was set to get pampered and celebrate the most important day of her life. At first, everyone was overwhelmed to see other girls and their glitzy look. The dresses gave them a totally different look. Afterwards, Reeba and Zara had planned games for all the girls. Somehow, the games failed and a discussion on boys became the hot topic. Supposedly, it is one of the hot topics at this age. Time flew by and it was supper time. Zara and Lolita set up the table and everyone savored the food. It was past eleven and everyone decided to call it a night. Lolita’s parents were running late so she had to be home alone for some time. She decided to clean the house and dispose the garbage. As she stepped outside the house to dump the garbage in the garbage can across the road, a man on the corner was staring at her. Her heart felt heavy, and she decided to walk briskly towards the house. She quickly managed to lock the house and played some music to soothe her mind.

The landline goes off and it’s her parents. They just left their friend’s house and expect to reach home in forty five minutes. Lolita went to the basement and got back to her cleaning. She realized that she’s out of paper towels and ran back upstairs. Her heart started racing when she saw a stranger standing in her kitchen. The mind and body froze in a second. She didn’t know if she wanted to scream or even walk/run. The stranger asked her to calm down and slowly walked up to her. He wished her happy birthday. At that moment, her mind started asking thousands of questions. Who is he? How did he get in? How does he know my birthday? What is he going to do next? While she was putting stress on her mind and thinking about this, the stranger grabbed her from the arm and took her to the couch. When Lolita realized she’s on the couch, she screamed. The man put his hand on her mouth and Lolita tried to hit him. He put all his body weight on Lolita and took out a tape to put on her mouth. She couldn’t scream anymore. The man ripped apart her dress and started molesting her. At that very moment, Lolita could not believe something like this is happening to her. She kept calling her parents in her mind and asked for help. The man started hurting her and she went in an unconscious zone. Lolita cannot recall if she was alive and or dead at that moment.

When her parents arrived, she was lying naked on the couch. Her mother could not believe her eyes. She quickly managed to wrap her daughter in a drape. Lolita’s father called the cops right away. In the meantime, both of them tried to bring Lolita to her senses. However, the attempt failed. The ambulance came and took Lolita to a nearby hospital, while the cops started searching the house and the neighborhood. The doctors broke the news to the family and announced, ‘your daughter was raped.’ The mother could not control and had a mental breakdown. From that night onward, Lolita’s life completely changed.

Agni Agni Agneepath

So, I finally checked off Agneepath from my to-do-list. Extremely intense and a power packed film. I only have one complain. Too long… sitting in the theatre for 3 hrs is quite a task these days. Frankly speaking, Priyanka should just retire. She doesn’t have the meat in her roles to woo the audience. We know she has the perfect figure and can give other actresses a run for their money but that attribute is long gone. I’d say Hrithik’s sister had a much more firm place in the movie. She had a reason to be there whereas Priyanka was casted only for a couple of songs and a bit of sense of humor. Fail!

Oh well, Agneepath wholly and totally belongs to Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor. It was a treat to my eyes to see such different roles and an entire makeover of these two humungous pillars of our industry. Sanjay Dutt seems to be the only actor with a gigantic body in B’town. The aam junta could see the devil in him. Kudos to Karan Malhotra! Only a superlative and creative director can think of a bald man with no eyebrows and a hefty body. It was quite daunting to see Sanjay Dutt like that. Switching gears now… I don’t even know how and where to begin with Rishi Kapoor. Breathtaking get up and one of his finest performances. If I’m not wrong, this is the first time RK performed in a negative role. It is totally ridiculous to see how this Kapoor Khandaan is reaching success after success. RK Jr. gave a magnificent performance in Rockstar and now RK Sr. dismayed the audience with ‘Rauf Lala’! Phenomenal!

…and now, as much as I try not to, I just can’t stop myself from comparing the original AGNEEPATH to this one. It’s nearly impossible to say that Hrithik did justice to ‘Vijay Dinanath Chauhan’ simply because his suave and macho look holds no match to it. The minute one recalls ‘VDC’, AB Sr. comes knocking into your brain with his heavy voice and the famous dialogue ‘pura naam…Vijay Dinanath Chauhan’.

Lastly…the pahua chadha ke aayi girl surely gave the oomph factor to the movie.

Can you control your thoughts?

Am I the only one suffering with this problem or are you sailing in the same boat? It is nearly impossible for me to just tell my mind ‘SHUT UP, DUDE’. I constantly have something or the other running through my head. Why can’t I control my thoughts? Just like we can control the television with a remote; is there a remote for our brain…?

This has been my numero uno problem for past several years. I think too much. There are few people with whom I’ve expressed this and their casual response was ‘everyone thinks, not a big deal’. So, I’m assuming it’s pretty common among all of us. Would you comply with me? I believe half of my energy is consumed in my thoughts. It’s like putting your brain in a workout mode. One can go absolutely bonkers if tries to understand how human brain works. How can it run constantly for twenty four hours…that too without any energy pill!? Out of the blue, some random thought will hover around my brain and it’ll lead to a trail of stories. I wish there was a way to divert your brain from such formation of mental thoughts. According to my husband, the best way to relax and soothe one’s brain is Meditation. Okay, I get that. I hear the big word from all sorts of people. However, if only I could blank out my brain for a single second [with or without meditation], then I wouldn’t have felt forced to write this article in the first place.

Do you suffer from this? I’m not sure why, but I slightly believe that many of you can relate to this situation…or I could be totally misguided. Am I?

Benazir Bhutto

A role model, an idol, and a go-getter…that’s how I will describe Lady Benazir Bhutto. I clearly remember the time Bhutto got assassinated in Pakistan. I had just completed my bachelors and came back home. It came as a shock to not just Pakistan but the entire world. She was such a quintessential personality and possessed radiant charisma.

My cousin recommended me a documentary on Bhutto and I decided to watch it. Not that I’m minutely interested in Pakistan and its politics but I simply wanted to know about her. The way she presented herself in public and articulated her speeches were astonishing. I was totally taken back when I saw what Bhutto’s father wanted to accomplish. He wanted to see Pakistan as a democratic nation. He wanted to change the look of Pakistan altogether. He was one of the few people who treated men and women equally. He didn’t mourn when the doctors announced, ‘it’s a girl’. He felt proud. He saw her completely capable of handling political affairs. He didn’t pester Benazir to wear a Burqa. According to him, it wasn’t necessary. Coming this from the PM of Pakistan is a big deal because they are the people that general public looks up to. Not in this day n age but in old times, yes.

One thing which petrified me while watching the documentary was a notorious law: a law which forced a women to provide four witnesses while she was getting raped; else she will go to jail for performing intercourse outside her marriage. Things like these were itching Benazir the most. She wanted to introduce equality in her country. She wanted to compose her nation as one world and not men’s world. She saw the downfall of her father; saw him serving jail time; and eventually saw him getting hanged till death. The pain didn’t end here. Bhutto and her family faced house arrest and afterwards confronted imprisonment in the worst cell of Pakistan. The conditions described in that jail can terrorize any human being. Fear of heat, ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches, bees, bugs and so on…

Regardless of all she bore; she still wanted to serve her country. When she became the Prime Minister, she wanted to show the world that a woman is no less than a man. She holds equal credibility and authority to run a country. Almost all of her family members got murdered but she never lost hope. Benazir was very focused in her life and wanted to bring her father’s dream alive. Coming from a political background, automatically classified you as a corrupt person. Corruption is a norm in a country like Pakistan. Benazir too, was entangled in corruption and controversies. However, she was the only face who could change the entire look of her country. A country where women’s are stoned to death and asked to hide their mind, body, and soul underneath a burqa. A country where education is expensive or optional or not available. A country where carrying guns is like carrying chocolates in your pocket.

Benazir knew her death awaits her in Pakistan. Nonetheless, she still went ahead with her heart. She wanted to see a new and reformed Pakistan.

Salute…!

Lies & Deceit

Last night after gulping down dinner at seven thirty, I had too much free time on my hand. So, my hubby and I decided to watch a movie. The Debt is based on Israel and their spy agency Mossad. Three spy agents were sent to Berlin to capture a Nazi criminal. Throughout the movie I kept observing the protagonist behavior. As if the director only wanted the viewers to feel the discomfort and regretfulness of Rachel; the protagonist. Upon returning from her mission, she and her partners lied about their mission being accomplished. Rachel was pestered by her partners to utter a lie for the rest of her life. Back in Israel, she became the talk of the town. She was the ‘hero’ for many students studying in university; comrades serving in the army; journalists; media; and most importantly her daughter.

It’s hard to imagine a life which is completely soaked in a lie. Rachel’s quietness all along the movie portrayed how much she’s suffering from one lie. People around her were living in a misconception. It was as if she’s living a dead life. Her past did not let her breathe fresh air and her present forced her to remain mute about her lies.

Lying seems to be quite a common thing in humans. At times you lie to hide your emotions or to make a little boy or girl happy or you want to save your job from your manager and so on… It’s very normal to see such behavior in one’s life. However, if a lie is holding back your life and comes between you and your happiness then it’s time to spit it out. I’m sure my readers now will say, ‘easier said than done’. Yes, I totally and whole heartedly agree with you, however, it’s better to blurt it out at once than to live with it every single day.

Recap of 2011

Phew…so where do I begin?! It was the last year of Osama and the best for Obama. Shockingly, we saw the demise of OBL. Definitely takes the top row in every chart. Facebook brought revolution in Egypt and the country joined hands to show the power of people. They no more breathe under Mubarak. It’s a free nation. Libya followed the same footsteps and declared them as a democratic nation. Hail to the power of people!

A year wholly dedicated to Anna Hazare and his team; his fast; his rally against corruption; his dedication to fight until the last breath. India finally opened eyes to corruption and came together with team Anna Hazare. Lokpal Bill got introduced to every citizen of the county and youth decided to stand by in creating a corruption-free India.

It was a year of Chamak Challo and SRK. Kolaveri Di took the country by surprise. Staggering song which made everyone dance to its tune! A year when media anxiously awaited the arrival of Beti Bachchan. This might offend some of the readers but the world seriously revolves around the ‘B’ family.

It was a year when we lost Steve Jobs. The man who invented iPhone and modified the entire meaning of how to use cell phones. 2011 also the demise of Shammi Kapoor, Jagjit Singh, Dev Anand, Surinder kapoor, MF Hussain. It was ridiculous to see condolences tweets every week from countless people. An article can be written alone on the number of deaths witnessed by the world. May they all rest in peace.

2011 will remain the worst year for Japan. A tsunami ripped apart Japan from its place and left catastrophic marks all across the country. God bless Japan. Mother Nature took a toll on almost every continent and gave numerous indications of the so-called-2012-the-end-of-world. So, if it is the last year of life on Planet Earth…live it up guys!

I’m off to create some new moves on ‘Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri Di?’…