Shubh - Ashubh!

I've given this a lot of thought; I guess it's mainly because both my Mom and her elder sister are pretty superstitious. I was thinking about all the ridiculous things they say to my siblings and I and realized we're not the only ones who 'believe' in these...Personally I couldn't care less, but just thought I'd share my findings with you all. I used to wonder why these things were said especially since there was never any connection between why I was doing something and why I was told not to do it. I suppose our ancient Ancestors just wanted to find reasons for people not to get into trouble or just wanted to set up rules for no good reason!

Either ways, there are a few common shared beliefs and some are entirely from the East while some are entirely from the West.

Some common Indian beliefs:

1. Eye twitching - Depending on which eye twitches it's supposed to bring good or bad luck.
2. Palm itching - Again, depending on which palm is itching, right or left, it should indicate that one will either lose money or gain money.
3. Curd - Eating curd, usually a spoonful is supposed to bring you good news and luck before something big that you're aiming for in life.
4. Turned over chappals - It is my Mother's staunch belief if a sandal is flipped over upside down that it creates fights and quarrels in the house.
5. Playing with scissors - It's pretty much the same philosophy here, by playing with scissors it creates fights and quarrels in the house!
6. Dog howling - Yes, another favourite for my Mom. She believes it's bad luck when a dog howls. And according to her, the direction in which the dog howls is very important as if it faces towards someone's house and howls then there'll be a death in their family.
7. Cat crossing your path - Gone are the days when poor black cats were targeted for being the bearers of bad luck. Nowadays it seems ALL cats are bad luck bringers! If by chance a cat crosses our path, my Mom stops the car (even if it's smack in the middle of the road) and reverses the car and then continues on the path she was going.
8. If you bite your tongue/your inner cheeks by mistake - It's said that someone's cursing you or swearing at you.
9. Cutting your hair on Tuesdays - This one is a common one followed by my Aunt. She believes it's unlucky to cut hair on this day as it brings bad luck.
10. Nails not to be cut after sunset - Yep, it apparently brings bad luck.
11. Crows cawing in front of your house/rooftop - The most common Indian belief as it's supposed to be an indication that guests/visitors will arrive at your house.
12. Dreaming between 4am-6am - Another common one, It is believed that if someone dreams something between this time frame, be it good or bad, it comes true.
13. Cricket - People wear their lucky hat/find a lucky spot in their houses/call a 'lucky' person when an important match is being played. I suppose folks in the West believe this to an extent as they have their lucky mitts, jerseys and caps too. But the belief is wearing these helps their Team win the game.
14. Trees at night have spirits in them - So, they say you shouldn't walk near a tree at night otherwise you might get possessed.
15. Spitting on fallen/loose hair strands three times prevents more hair from falling - Apparently you should curl up loose/fallen hair, spit on them three times and then throw them so they can't come in contact with feet.
16. Spider landing on you indicates you'll buy new clothes - Creepy, but believed to be true.
17. Looking at pleasant baby pictures during pregnancy helps the mother give birth to a good looking kid. Yes, genes and science play no part in this!

Some common beliefs of the East and West:

1. Black cats bring bad luck.
2. Breaking a mirror/glass brings bad luck (some say 7 years, some say 11).
3. Opening an umbrella indoors brings bad luck.
4. Making a wish upon seeing a falling star.
5. Making a wish when one's eyelash falls.
6. Hiccups are supposed to be reminders for you that someone's missing you or thinking about you.
7. Knocking on wood when trying to cast the evil eye away or warding off envious people.
8. Sleeping facing the south direction is apparently good.

Some common English beliefs:

1. Keeping fingers crossed - Hoping for something to go well.
2. Four leaf clover - is rare and supposed to bring you good luck (NEVER worked for me!)
3. Horseshoe/peacock feather/acorn - again supposed to bring you good luck.
4. Friday the 13th - Allegedly an unlucky day...any association with the number 13 is apparently supposed to bring bad luck.
5. Last but not the least, walking under a ladder - Which again is supposed to bring you bad luck.

I guess for some people following suspersitious stuff is a way of life. I say to each his own.

Do feel free to add some of the common ones you've come across!

Bollywood Dialogues

I was out with my family a few weeks ago and we all thought about some of the famous Hindi movie dialogues...Thought I'd share them with you...

Feel free to add more :)

"Apne aap ko kanoon ke hawaale kar do."

"Police ne tumhe chaaron taraf sey gher liya hai"

"Apne hathiyaar phenk do"

"Abh isse dawa ki nahi...Sirf duwa ki zaroorath hai"

"I'm sorry......He's no more"

"NAHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!"

"Kanoon ke haath bahut lambe hote hein"

"Rukjao! kanoon ko apne haath mein mat lo"

"Bhagwaan pe bharosa rakho. Sab thik ho jaiye ga"

"Bhagwaan kay liye mujhe chhor do"

"Agar maa ka dood piya hai tho samnay aa!"

"main tumhaare bachche ki maa banne waali hoon."

"Bhagwan mainey tumse aaj tak kuch nahin maanga..."

"Mai tumhare bina nahin jee sakti/sakta"

"Is ghar ke darwaaze, tumhare liye hamesha hamesha ke liye band hein"

"Tamam gawahon key bayanat aur saboton ko madde nazar rakhtey huway adaalat yeh nathije pay pohonchi hain kay mujrim xyz ko Taz-e-raat-e-hind, dafaa 302 ke tahat, sazaaye maut di jaati hai...He shall be hanged till DEATH!"

"Mulzim ko ba-izzat bari kiya jaata hai"

"Main is Geeta per haath rakhkar yeh kasam leta/leti hoon ki jo bhi kahoonga/kahoongi sach kahoonga/kahoongi, aur sach ke siva kuch nahin kahoonga/kahoongi."

"Ramu kaka!"

"Thairo! yeh shaadi nahi ho sakhthi!"

"Driver, gadi roko"

"Driver, uska peecha karo"

"Yeh maine apnay haathon say khudh banaya hain"

"Tumharay ghar mein maa behen nahi hain kya?"

"Uffo...Choro naa! Koi dekh leyga/koi aajayega!

"Ajee sunthay ho?"

"Chorh do mujhe"

"Chorh do mujhe...mujhe marr jaana hai!"

"Ho sakhay tho mujhe maaf kardo"

"Sharam nahi aathi tumhay aisee neech harkath karthay huway?"

Enough!

There’s a new show, Pratigya on Star Plus that my mom is watching every day at 10:30 pm. There are very few shows that can piss me off so much and this is one of them. It’s about this small town girl who is being harassed by some ‘dada’ of the colony. He keeps sending her flowers, presents, gives her blank calls and stalks her. The girl in return just whimpers and cowers away. Now, what makes my blood boil is that the show was supposed to be all about womens lib and how the protagonist, Pratigya is supposed to be one of those loud mouthed women who poke their nose in other peoples business and fight against injustice. But when it comes down to her own situation Pratigya just keeps crying and whining about why this is happening to her!

It’s very obvious where this show is going. She will eventually be forced to be with that gunda Krishna because of some lame and foreseeable circumstances and somewhere down the line fall in love with him because he ‘loves’ her so much! It’s upsetting that the concept of women harassment is being made a mockery of in such kind of shows!

I have yet to meet a girl who hasn’t been eve teased or letched at. But there are so many freaks nowadays it’s unbelievable the level the harassment has increased to! Yes, not everyone’s a Shahrukh Khan from Darr, but being someone who has undergone her fair share of harassment I can undoubtedly vouch for the kind of morons lurking around.

I admit in some cases the girl encourages the guy’s behavior intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. But what gives the guy a right to assume that the girl he lays eyes on is single and available? Or that she may reciprocate those feelings? Why does he feel these modes of pursuing her are ‘romantic?’ Why can’t a no just be a no instead of what Indian movies have imbibed in boys by saying dialogues like “if a girl says no then she really means a yes!”

In almost all movies we used to see and for that matter still see, guys emotionally blackmail girls to fall in love with them. True, guys undergo harassment as well but I’m focusing more on a woman’s point of view here. Women are stalked and humiliated even in public where the guys don’t shy away from creating a scene to profess their love in front of everyone.

I remember reading in a Dubai magazine that in most cases when the harassment levels have gone beyond control and the guy can’t take the rejection that’s when the girls get sexually assaulted, disfigured or even murdered. And the worst part is it’s mostly done by someone the girl knows! Maybe not at a personal level but she can identify and name her harasser.
As someone who has turned to the police for help I know the chances of something happening are very slim. I filed a complaint at my local police station for being harassed by some pervert who gets his kicks out of calling me at all hours of the day from different numbers wanting to talk to me. It’s become so that I don’t even answer calls from unknown numbers. The complaint was filed with the Police almost three months ago and still no action has been taken. Thankfully the horrible network I was using had helped in making me take the decision to change my number. But what angers me is the anonymous culprit who walks away without any action taken against him.

Women are being picked on at work, public places, amongst friends and sometimes even at homes. Where is a woman safe? If the laws were stricter then I’m sure such jerks wouldn’t feel confident in walking away after violating women. Frankly, I think Parents need to also try their best to teach their sons to respect women, do their best to ensure their kids don’t hang out with the wrong crowd. Women on the other hand need to start speaking out and be more persistent in trying to nab the accused. Public awareness and taking this issue serious is the need of the hour. It’s easier said that done. But that’s the price of freedom which we all have equal rights to.
I’ve learned my lesson. I used to think by ignoring such bastards they’ll eventually go away, but the truth is they don’t stop….and they won’t stop until something is done! I had a confrontation with someone who used to be a good friend of mine who was harassing me for almost two years. I tried everything from ignoring, to swearing, to having people talk to him on my behalf to almost having him beaten up but it was only after I left that environment and went underground that he lessened the psycho-ness.

After a lot of water under the bridge had passed I had told him in that confrontation that I’m not interested in him and never will be. It took almost three hours but I managed to get through to him and got rid off him. It’s been more than a year and I haven’t heard from him. I guess with some psycho’s talking works and with others you have to take more serious measures. Either ways, the answer is not to sit alone and cry or wait for prince charming to come and help you out. We as women need to show that we’re not the weaker sex and fight for our freedom or at the very least, stand up for ourselves...After all, if we don't then no one will!

Who are the REAL animals?

It breaks my heart to think we humans; the “civilized” race can do such extremely uncivilized things to defenseless animals. Sadly more and more animals are the victims of either being experimented on, used for clothing or entertainment. Some are even raped, poked and abused by people. Animalcruelty.com states 5 billion U.S. dollars is spent every year on animal experiments and 70 million animals are tested and tortured in America alone.

Peaceful animals such as elephants, bulls and cocks are being forced to suffer and when they act in defense they’re killed. It’s no secret that bullfights have people throwing spears into the bulls’ backs which kills them slowly and painfully. For the sake of entertainment Greyhounds and Horses are constantly being injected with hormones, starved and eventually killed or sent for experimentation when they can run no more.

Innocent rabbits are being blinded in the name of research in the ‘Draize’ test. Over 10 billion animals are slaughtered every year for consumption purposes. Fish are being consumed at such a rapid rate that we’re endangering the survival of other animals that are dependent on them.

Cattle and chickens are kept in tiny cages/spaces, injected with hormones and dehydrated. They eventually die of stress or diseases. Hens, probably the most abused of the animals in today’s world are treated like just meat. Some are boiled alive, beheaded ruthlessly, plucked when they’re half alive, in India carried by their legs tied together while they’re alive on bikes for a good couple of miles only to be butchered.

We’ve already made most of the beautiful species like tigers, elephants, rhinos almost extinct, but this obsession with fur doesn’t end! There are fur farms which kill millions of animals each year just for their fur which is used for furniture or fashion.

The worst act humans do is unnecessary hunting. The one where they go for a ‘fun and adventurous trip’ only to kill an innocent animal and stuff their heads, replace their eyes with glass and hang them up on a wall to display their bravery and courage.

I saw this email once which had people in some European country killing hundreds of whales (or was it dolphins?) for the sake of tradition. The tradition was that once a boy matures, to mark his entry into manhood he should kill the mammal and then throw them back into the sea. The seashore was overflowing with blood and disgusted me so much that I couldn’t even see it till the end.

Even domestic animals aren’t spared. When I was in Canada I went to a few of the homeless shelters and cried when I saw the kind of cruel things people had done to some of the animals. Some poor creatures were burnt, some tortured, some starved, some intentionally blinded. Perhaps a few of these were accidents but it sickens me to think that some of these were done on purpose.

It’s sad to attract attention towards ethical treatment of animals PETA has to resort to half naked humans. Sure, they’re creative but the only reason people take notice is because sex sells. I’m not saying PETA isn’t doing a commendable job. But I believe their messages need to be stronger and show the inhumanity caused to some of the animals worldwide.

The people who see these ads couldn’t care less about the message the representative is trying to get across! I’ve heard people say “xyz person looked SO HOT in that PETA ad!” When I asked them which one they couldn’t for the life of them recall what the ad was about. All they remembered was the nude celebrity!

Circuses and zoos are no better. The stories of animal cruelty in these places have been going on for more than a century. Dirty cages, minimal food, abuse and captivity is no way for these creatures to spend their lives.

With the way things are going I doubt we’ll have any animals left in the world in another hundred years. We’ve already taken their homes away from them by ruining forests and seperating them from their families, the least we can do is let these voiceless animals live with some dignity and peace.

Avatar

Yesterday my family and I went to watch Avatar. We went for the 9:15pm show instead of 6:15pm because of some goof up due to lack of listening skills on my sister’s fiancé’s part. I was obviously very excited after hearing rave reviews from everyone I didn’t care which show we went for. I was trying to book tickets for that movie for over a week!

The plan was to have an early dinner at 7:00pm (we were late for that by half an hour no thanks to the guys in my family who took their time to get ready!) and head off for the movie. We decided we’d eat at Little Italy (Karkhana) and watch the movie in Cine Planet. Now, none of us have ever gone to that cinema. And of all the movies to test the cinema on, my Mom decided to choose this one! I figured it couldn’t possibly be THAT bad…I mean, isn’t that a multiplex? We finished off dinner by 8:30pm and zoomed our way to Medchal Highway in search of Cine Planet.

I stepped out of the car and saw the condition of the ‘mall/cinema hall’...Without wanting to sound snooty about the whole thing, the crowd was very… down market. People showed up in their pajamas for the movie which is a crime in itself. The highlight of the evening for me was this ignorant man who walked in wearing a bathrobe! Yes, that’s right, a bathrobe! He strolled in casually with his hands in his candy floss coloured bathrobe (pic here doesn't show it so well) and was waiting for the movie to start. It took a while for it to sink in that the poor man had thought that bathrobe is a long coat!

Now, I’ve been to some pretty crappy cinema halls (courtesy my Mom again) in my time but none like this. I mean, even in shit holes like Anand Cinema hall, where the seats have metal rods sticking out of them and the whole hall stinking of urine, people at least had the decency to not wear their night wear and come! Anand Cinema also, surprisingly, didn’t have the letchers and gawkers that are now a part of every cinema movie experience. My Mom used to insist on the cheaper ticket cinema halls thinking she shouldn’t waste good money on a movie. She didn’t like shelling out Rs.100-200 for a ticket when she can watch the same movie for Rs.30-50. Thankfully that attitude has now changed!

We had to wait for half an hour because the cinema hall geniuses started the earlier show late. Of course I was cribbing about it. Finally a man came and opened the gates at 9:45 pm. We waited for a few seconds for the crowd to thin out, but realized that there’s no man at the door to check the tickets! It was like a stampede! People were taking two to three steps at a time to get to seats they wanted. I doubt some of the regulars even had tickets! I figured perhaps someone will come by later during the movie and check for the tickets. But no! No body came!

I kept chuckling to myself throughout the movie thinking that we could have seen the movie for free. It’s not like anyone would have stopped us!

The movie started and the sound quality was awful! It was almost as if they were whispering! Damn it, I would have gotten better sound quality out of my laptop! So, for the first forty five minutes I was straining my ears and almost learnt the art of lip reading when the Cinema folks decided to turn the A.C. off! Yup, I figured they had to cut corners from somewhere! It’s not like they were charging people for the movie to begin with! So, after that the sound was better. (By better I mean I didn’t have to strain my ears so badly.) The place then became a stinky sauna! Pair that up with uncomfortable seats because it only had the option of making people sit straight. We also had some goons passing cheap comments and whistling in our row. Midway in the movie, my brother and I heard loud snoring from someone a few seats away! We practically ran out of the cinema hall after the movie ended. The movie was okay according to me. The graphics were awesome but the storyline has been done to death! I will definitely remember this movie experience for a long time. I went to watch the ‘greatest’ movie of all time in the crappiest cinema hall!

2010 Goals!

I’ve decided to use this year as the year where I’ll achieve all that I set my mind to. I’m not a very strong willed person to being with, yet I’m very stubborn when I finally decide on something. So, unlike the other years, I didn’t set any New Year’s resolution this year. I guess it’s partially because I’ve grown out of it, and also because I never follow the resolutions that I set. It’s not that I set unrealistic resolutions; it’s just that I forget about them midway in the year and focus on what’s happening in my life.

I did however decide that I’ll achieve the following things this year:

1. Lose weight-My goal is 10 kgs. I had put it on because of my horrible habit for binging on junk food, my lack of sleep and the weird hours I work.

2. Connect with my family again-this again was lost due to the hectic fast paced BPO lifestyle I chose with the absurd shift timings.

3. STOP spending so much! I’m a shopaholic!

4. Learn to play the violin-Sriram, I owe it to you to learn how to play it. You gifted me the violin almost a year ago, the least I can do is learn to play it!

5. Finish off all the pending work I have. Pick up certificates, pay fees etc. That’s another thing I’ve been procrastinating for a while now!

6 Focus on what I want to do with my life-I’m in limbo right now between what careers I want to chose, training, teaching, content writing, awaiting another option to consider.

7. Learn to drive a car and ride a bike.

8. Stop being so damn lazy!

9. Continue with project ‘Email’ for all 365.

10. Try to learn something new.

11. Keep in touch with my friends. Make it a point to meet up with them whenever possible.

12. Cook more often(ok, so this is more for the sake of wishing and less of wanting. I’ll be honest with myself, I doubt this will happen.)

13. Finish anything that I started.

14. Be more religious.

15. Learn Telugu.

16. Not get annoyed so quickly.

17. STUDY! I spend more time on the net, watching movies and reading books!

18. Contribute more towards society, be it by helping underprivileged kids, charity or towards the environment. I try anyway, but I know I can do so much more.

19. Take better care of my health and the way I look. I’m aging pretty badly!

20. Reduce my intake of spicy food. I’m sure at the rate I eat spices I’ll end up getting an ulcer!

So, that’s it for now. I'll add more when I feel the need. Some of these things seem unrealistic, but I know I can achieve them. I've just got to set my mind to it. Now that I’ve made a list and posted it on a place where I’ll be able to see it frequently, I’m sure I’ll be able to achieve these….or at least...I think I'm sure....Wish me luck!!