Wordwebs!

Always be happy… Try to be happy… We keep hearing and many a times feeling also that is something wrong with me if I am not happy. I am also guilty of feeling and suggesting to others that “Be happy”. But the point is who doesn’t want to be happy? Who wants be sad and gloomy and crying? I definitely don’t!! I have heard this term called “fake positivity” and it has diverse meanings, faking to feel happy may also not be the thing that we need to do. Just yesterday I was having a discussion with someone who is hurting because of something and that thing has been bothering her for a long long time. And she was sad about it, she was pained about it and she was venting it out to me. I was just listening to her and listening to her. I didn’t want to give any suggestions to her to be happy, try to be happy, and try to divert your attention from that thing and blah blah blah. Why?? Because what purpose will it serve, as she is suffering because of that reason, if it is hampering her life, ...

Don’t show off: Half the world will be happy if they stopped worrying about making others happy with their new car or their new phone or their new dress. Previously it was about showing off to relatives and friends, and now with social media it’s like, ever one is on a race to show off to the whole world. Every single thing has to go on social media like, look I have the latest phone, people click photos standing in front of the mirror showing the logo of their phone, its doesn’t matter if the photo of the individual has come out good or not , but the logo should be visible under all circumstances. Anyone is buying a new car, first it has to be live streamed, shown to the entire world first.  I sometimes wonder if such people actually feel the real emotion of the moment ? I mean, do they really give themselves a pat, an appreciation, gratitude. Wouldn’t it be difficult as the whole focus is on capturing it through artificial lenses, and more so because it is being done to show it t...

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK/NUI GALWA Y Disposable Masks and PPE kits and sanitizer bottles/sprays are a norm and essential commodity too, looking at the current pandemic situation. They cannot be devalued for the protection they provide... But, are we looking at a plastic pandemic after this? All these would be disposed and will end up in the ecosystem, be it our soil or the water bodies. Undoubtedly, we have bigger things to work on right now, curbing the Corona infection, saving as many lives as possible, developing a vaccine/medication to fight the virus, but we have a plastic monster also gaping wide at us. The issue is too sensitive to delve into does and don’ts, but as WHO mentioned in its study that medical masks/masks with respirators are required by health workers or people in close proximity with COVID-19 patients, the common public can opt for effective cloth masks, guidelines for which are given on WHO and medical organization’s sites as well. This will bring down t...

Once again I am receiving a barrage of whatsapp messages to change my DP to black colour, to 3 candles, to this to that and the only thing that pops in my mind is,"Ok, and then what?" First of all this social media advent has become so annoying, token activism, self advertisements, Gawwdd.. When the Nirbhaya tragedy had occurred similar forwards were being circulated, changing DP to black and all. And at least 60% of social media/messenger people had changed their DPs to show their anger, distraught and blah and blooh and such few people went to the march at India Gate, and even among the ones who went there, so many shameless creatures had molested females even there too. When I was there, I saw so many males scanning females who were participating in that protest march. Once again DPs are changing, but are we seriously done with just changing the DPs? Is it enough? Have we visited any of those slain martyrs? Have we done something for them? What are the martyrs gainin...

Social media, YouTube is all filled up with videos of this lavish wedding where the whos who (although it doesn't really matter) showed up. I might seem a cynic when I say this but it was an ugly display of wealth, but but if I got the moolaah i will spend it so I should not be judging it. Will I also look for something like this? Mmmmm, if I draw comparisons with the functions held in my own family, we don't fare well either when even the cars for the baraat of my brothers' wedding had to be colour co-ordinated to only SUVs including AC coach buses that were practically empty as we had so fucking many SUVs, and the bride's family has kept fields vacant that season as we needed parkings, mind you parkings for cars we couldn't give a number because they were actually too many. This is just one tad bit of example. And this is not limited to wedding, my grandmother's funeral ceremony feast had a crowd of more than 3000 people. Some things are so impinged in our mi...

How many times do we ignore the calls of our parents due to ongoing meetings, get-together or whatever has caught us up at that time? At least in India there are curfew timings and when the clock is hovering around that time the phone calls from Mom start pouring in as to where we are, when we are returning and so on. And, to be frank, it bothers me too when I am out with my friends and despite informing at home that 'I will be late', after a certain point of time my phone starts buzzing with 'Maa ka phone aaya'. Most of the times, I am irritated with the constant prodding, I guess this is one thing that always bothers me, no matter who asks me this, about my whereabouts and what time will i return and blah blah. But while introspecting I realise the fear that my mother must be having, about me being safe, laughing and enjoying as for her also she took a leap for me to let me live my life on my own terms. She has given me the freedom but the social conditions have not ...

There are various movements that spring up and then stay and fizzle.. Reminds me of one of my lectures that I gave to my students about how a social movement takes form and reaches its peak and then quietens, maybe fizzles maybe suppressed or maybe people got bored of that in fashion theme. I had thoroughly enjoyed reading for that lecture.. Why am i talking about social movements all of a sudden? M I jumping on any bandwagon as I was feeling left out or my social media page doesn't boast of a content that is in fashion? Well, I had first acknowledged the fact that Hollywood was open and out about 'Times Up' and 'MeToo' and how much we needed it and it did happen when Tanushree Dutta spoke about her ordeal. But then we had this human caricature come out do what she does best, drama, created a mockery of the movement, without realising how crucial it was for each and every one of us alive, today being knocked out in a wrestling game. Sometimes I wonder all the plast...