29th April 2007 5:30pm: Sitting idle after the exams, the idea of going to the ‘times global village’ hit me as an excellent one. For the uninitiated, this ad in the Times of India should throw some light on what it was all about:

“16 countries. 50 food stalls.
150 dancers. 900 shops.
1 entry ticket.
TIMES GLOBAL VILLAGE
Delhi hasn’t seen anything like the Times Global Village before! A month long extravaganza showcasing the best of the world in Delhi. From Czech crystals to African bead necklaces, from Pakistani cuisine to the best of the Thai fare, from Chinese dragon dancers to African drummers, this mega event has something for everyone. The centerpiece of the Dubai Shopping Festival for the last decade, it gives you food, shopping, dancing, entertainment, music, joyrides, arts and crafts, masti and magic, from all around the globe.
Adjacent to DND flyway, New Delhi
30th March-30th April 2007. 2pm onwards.
TOI, Delhi Tourism”

Being a foodie and shopoholic by nature, I grabbed my jingling money bag and cell phone and we were on our way. As we arrived the destination, the eyes glazed with the shimmering array of cars parked outside the venue. It was a cloudy Sunday evening and it seemed like the whole of the NCR was here to join in the festivities. Clutching the passes, we pushed our way through the crowd into the main grounds. The entrance was embellished with imitations of the many wonders that the world has seen. Taj mahal, Eiffel tower, the Pyramids of Egypt, Petronas towers, et al--- it was all there. “Good job” we say and move on. Right next to the entrance were three humongous stalls called Lifestyle, Interiors and Delhi. ‘Lifestyle’ was stocked with high-end stuff that only the upper strata could afford. The many sub-stalls were actually shops scattered all over the country clubbed together for this mega event. ‘Interiors’ dealt with the complex aspect of interior decoration/designing and some of the pieces, though prohibitively priced, were plain exquisite. ‘Delhi’, as the name suggests, was a huge conglomeration of Delhi’s most famous shops brought together under one roof.

Enough with the merchandize and we decided to eat. The food was a feast for the taste buds with Hyderabadi biryani on one side and Rajasthani food on the other. International cuisines were also available but people’s aversion to try out new food was apparent. I tried ‘tamarind juice’ from outside the UAE stall and the bittersweet taste (more bitter than sweet) lingered on even till the next day! After a whole round of biryani and kebabs and jaljeera and gol-gappas, it was time to check out the international good stalls.

African, Turkey, Czech Republic, Pakistan, UAE, UK, Thailand and China were some of the many countries showcasing their products. Each was trying to cash in on the things that made them unique and gave their country an edge over the others. Due to time constraints we were forced to miss out on a lot of stuff, but of the few things that we saw, something from Philippines caught my eye. The whole filipino idea revolved around customization and tailor-made goodies to please the customers. At Rs.120, one could get a colorful name-plate done with his name on it to be hung outside his private haven (read:room). An idea brilliant to the core… I wasn’t surprised to see the huge flock of ready customers willing to dish out the money and take back this customized piece from the other side of the world to flaunt in their respective homes. I got some name-plates made too… and went on to check out the other stuff. Well, if I go on to talk about the wares that were on display, blogspot would ban me for data redundancy! But in a nutshell, what I deduced was that for anyone with enough money in his hands and sufficient willingness to try out new things, this place was like a dream come true.

The event was laced with joyrides for kids and stimulated cricket pitches for the cricket buffs. Fun and merriment were almost tangible in the air. When we finally had to push off after it was quite late, we entered the mode of self-reprimanding for not coming here earlier. Like always, the blame was conveniently shifted to the ongoing exams. With hands full of shopping bags and tummies full to the brink, we slowly made our way back to our parked car…

Musing:

Though I don’t really like ‘the times of india’, this initiative deserves a virtual standing ovation. With enough advertising in their newspaper and glaring billboards at all major metro stations, the team ensured a heavy visitor inflow and an eventual rollicking success. Hats-off to the times team for a job (very) well done :)

Ever since I was a kid, I didn’t like art movies. I thought these flicks made on shoestring budgets were only for the intelligentsia who had strong opinions on the complex human circumstances and relationships depicted in these films. Most names associated with parallel cinema like Ritwik Ghatak, Bimal Roy, Deepa Mehta, Kumar Shahani, and even Satyajit Ray made me cringe. I developed an acute dislike for actors like Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi at a very early age for the mere fact that they acted in these offbeat flicks. I saw my first art movie when I was nine (name withheld to condense public outrage) and hated it so much that I turned my back on such movies forever. Now after ten years of abstinence, I finally decided to give it another shot, and this is how it happened---

Crisp monday morning and I’m sitting in my college’s seminar room waiting for the screening of ‘Water’ to begin. As part of an ongoing movie festival, the college is screening 2 art movies back to back today- ‘water’ and ‘dor’. Now many people I know had watched Dor and had praised it so much that I was already half willing to watch it if given a chance to (but only for free, ofcourse!). Water, on the other hand, is yet to release in India and I hadn’t been previously inundated with any opinions to watch/skip it whatsoever. What prompted me to watch it was its recent Oscar nomination. So there I was, sitting and waiting for the movie to start and mentally preparing myself for 4-5 harrowing hours of no music and sheer boredom. Click… beep… click… and we started rolling….

I am issuing a standard review of ‘water’ in public interest, for the benefit of the masses (that is for the junta reading this blog).

Water
Directed by- Deepa Mehta
Written by- Deepa Mehta
Starring- Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas and Sarala
Language- Hindi
Running time- 114 minutes

Water is set in the 1930’s when India was still ruled by the British… and Mahatma Gandhi’s movement was slowly, but surely, picking up momentum. The movie is based on the lives of widows around that time and revolves around the story of Kalyani(Lisa Ray) and Narayan(John Abraham). Chuhiya(Sarala) garnishes the movie with her innocent presence and portrays the fate of young widows in the India of yester-years. Keeping in line with the Hindu tradition, girls were married off at an early age to older men and were subject to a life full of misery and servitude after their husband’s demise. Chuhiya is an eight year old who finds herself ‘widowed’ at this tender age. She is sent away to a widows’ home in Benaras where she has a lot of trouble coping up with the new ways and the kind of people that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Kalyani is her only mate in the ashram. Amidst all the toil, they’re shown to have shared a lot of bubbly moments together. Being the only widow whose hair are not shorn, Kalyani is an outcast who’s sent to ‘serve and please’ the sethjis occasionally. Shakuntala(Seema Biswas) is an enigmatic inmate who has an innate tendency to do whatever is right in a given situation. Enters Narayan who is a stanch supporter of Gandhi with liberated views and believes that widows should be allowed to remarry. He sees Kalyani and love happens at first sight. Initially apprehensive, Kalyani soon drops all inhibitions and decides to marry him. The whole widow ashram is furious and Madhumati locks her away in a dingy room. The lustrous tresses are also chopped off callously. Shakuntala plays the iron lady once again and shows Kalyani to a better and more fulfilling life. But as they say, life is not a bed of roses and this is exactly what happens with the gorgeous couple. The fairy tale soon goes sour due to some unexpected turn of events. Despite this, the movie ends on a hopeful note. I’ll refrain from divulging further details because I want you all to go and experience the masterpiece for yourselves.

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Water was an exceptionally well-made movie. The serene and spotless white clothes of the inmates, the tranquil banks of the Ganges, the forceful dialogue delivery of the actors, depiction of a widow’s hardships, cravings of the deprived (widows weren’t allowed to binge on fried foods like puris, halwa or jalebis!), prevalence of prostitution in dire conditions, monotonous existence, the innocent and carefree ways of a young child, et al… Mehta creates a magical atmosphere to showcase her story. The candid Sarala proves to be a child-artist par excellence. Ladoos and pets… water has a lot to offer.

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The movie was shot in Sri Lanka after mobs destroyed its original sets in Varanasi in the year 2000. It was later shot using both a different cast and title (River Moon) in 2003. The film debuted in Canada in 2005 and is hitting the theatres in India tomorrow. Critics might argue that the movie is derogatory to the image of Hindus worldwide but I beg to differ. Being a girl myself, all I could think of while watching the flick was that how lucky I am to be born today and not in the 1930s. I also couldn’t help noticing as to how far we’ve come from the days when being a woman was no less than being cursed. It made me appreciate the social developments that we’ve made so far and also gave me a taste of what the generations before me might have gone through. All in all, a great package that needs to be seen by anyone who considers himself even remotely intelligent to appreciate niche works.

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After ‘water’ they screened ‘dor’, which again had something to do with a widow, but was much lighter in essence than the former. Time flew while I watched these movies and when I walked out of the seminar hall… my perceptions about art movies had changed radically forever… for good! Hail diversity and intelligentsia. Amen!

A fresh new post… a clean new slate to put forth my views (yet again!).

Note of caution: To the die-hard Valentine’s Day supporters/fans/fanatics--- this piece is not for you. I advice you to bid adieu asap and not turn back even once.

All said… if you’re still hanging around… I fathom you have the patience and willingness to hear me out. The last thing I want to do is to sound sermonizing, so I’ll break this post into tiny interesting fragments… and spruce it up with real pictures (all taken first-hand by yours truly!).

Ridiculous tactics: Picture #1



Ridiculous tactics: Picture #2



PART I
I’m-no-agony-aunt
7th Feb:
I’m working out in a gym and the radio is on to keep us entertained. Running on a treadmill… huff puff… beads of sweat rolling down my forehead. What am I listening to? The RJ goes like “Call 64646… say ‘I love radio mirchi’ and win a candle-lit dinner in orient express with your loved one on valentine’s day!” Hmmm… tempting. For the uninitiated, Orient Express in one of the 50 finest restaurants in the world.
Standard reaction 1--- I’m flabbergasted… has it already begun??

8th Feb:
The v-day fever is catching up thick and fast with the other radio stations as well… offers and prizes are getting dearer (and better!) each passing minute. Switch on the tv and all channels are busy show-casing commercials related to the obvious. Not even the news channels are spared. My good old CNN-IBN also shows a ‘deliver flowers to your valentine’s doorstep (with no extra shipping charges)… call xxx-xxxx-xxx… toll free!’ commercial while I let out a loud groan.
Standard reaction 2--- The denial mode is over… time to start sighing! It’s that time of the year again.

9th Feb:
Things are getting worse. Hoardings in the campus have been changed to the ones that scream out and educate the naïve junta about the attractive v-day offers up for grabs (see picture #1… it’s a classic!). RJs are still going berserk with the prizes and proposals.
Standard reaction 3--- Aaarghh… for how much longer am I supposed to take this?

10th Feb:
A little birdie comes and coos into my ear that SaReGaMa has launched a new album… something by the name of ‘love rocks’ Even amazon.com has suddenly gone crimson!
Standard reaction 4--- I am trying to masquerade my disgust in the garb of a wry smile and slight smirk.

11th Feb:
D-day is drawing closer and I am happy. Why?? Cause I see an end to the gibberish just close by. Although the constant ranting of RJs and the print media advertising still irks me no end.
Standard reaction 5--- Waiting with bated breath for the 14th to come… and go!

12th Feb:
Things are uncontrollable… the dam has broken to make way for what may be called a sea of red hearts and pink kisses!
Standard reaction 6: I try and turn a deaf ear n blind eye to everything but fail miserably at it :(

13th Feb:
D/V-Day eve! I’m out in kamla nagar for some mobile related work and what I see leaves me all the more cantankerous and even disgusted to some extent (refer to picture #2 for explanation). Even the once faithful comrades have dumped me this time… ahem…. I mean even the shiv-sainiks have softened their stand on the ‘issue’. It was only this morning that I saw a news report telling that the sena run Kirti College in dadra is not averse to the idea of joining in the celebrations anymore. Depressing stuff. Heard a sena adyaksh say something you’d be surprised to hear… something about lesser dharnas n processions this year. RJs continue to be on a roll, still doling out prizes with undying fervor… gym time has suddenly lost all charm.
Standard reaction 7: (Un)comfortably numb…

14th Feb:
Need I tell how it’s like?!?!?

PART II
Trying-very-hard-not-to-sound-sermonizing
When I was a kid, the scale of celebrations was much smaller. People felt no need to hire limousines or buy diamond rings to woo their dates/spouses. Ways of expressing love were more personal, less flashy and way cheaper! No… I’m not 60 or over-conservative or a wet blanket, for that matter. I’m young, ultra-modern and extremely liberal. I have nothing against Valentine’s Day in particular… nothing so long as the celebrations are confined to one day and one day only. Agreed that true love needs expression and allocating a particular day to do so is not a sin. So far so good. What irks me is the lack of consideration on part of the moneymaking scoundrels who know nothing better than throwing offers and reaping benefits out of the whole situation. Why load people with v-day talks everywhere, every second of the day, for one whole week before the big day?? It gets a little over-whelming and seems kind of ridiculous at times. And if it’s all about love… what about mother and father’s days that often go unnoticed? In all respect… not fair. I don’t mean to demean the whole concept of celebrating Valentine’s Day… infact far from that… all I want to state is that the whole hype and hoopla makes little sense to me. Hold hands, kiss and get cozy, rock each others worlds… alright… but pleaseeee tone down on the celebrations front a little! The amount of moolah spent is not always proportional to how much you love your companion. Things that really mean a lot don’t always come in boxes…

All my arguments aside… I do believe that the expression of love is the headiest feeling on the whole planet. Go ahead, enjoy the day… but go easy with the festivities before/after the day is over. We have a whole assortment of other festivals to look forward to!

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A few good things:
YES, a few things have been keeping my mood really light of late… take a look:

1) The government IS making a serious effort towards polio eradication… a polio drops table at the entrance of the patel chowk metro station. Strategically placed… very impressive!

2) An airtel scheme especially for d.u. students… the tariff plan is really economical!

3) The rains! Potholes (hallmark of the place where I live!), wet roads, dark clouds, biting cold, thunderstorms, heavy showers… all the makings of a place called ‘heaven’. A welcome respite for the rain starved Delhi.

4) This amazing t-shirt that I saw at out university centers ‘peoples tree’ outlet.

Ad nauseam! Long post… but still got a lot more to write about. If time permits… the mill will churn out another post very soon.

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After-thought: If you’ve read this far… I deduce you don’t have the attention span of a three year old and are capable of putting up with stuff that you might not necessarily agree with or that which can be loosely categorized as ‘purely random, arbit and unorganized’. All I want to say to you guys is… keep visiting :)

The most complex of all emotions, the most prevalent of all feelings… this is an attempt at demystifying the most convoluted inscrutability surrounding mankind… this is love, simplified…

Oxford English Dictionary defines love as “an intense feeling of deep affection.” Look around you and you see a major portion of the people snowed under what I call ‘the crowning glory of our short expedition on planet earth’. To reduce the ambit of love to lover’s or spouse’s love would be like doing injustice to its wide and varied scope and coverage. A quick glance and we see love all around--- lover’s love, spouse’s love, parent’s love, friend’s love, family’s love, love in the nature of narcissism, love with a pet, love commercialized on TV and in movies, love with books or one’s job or basically things/places/professions in general, love at first sight, et al. The possibilities are inexhaustible and the list is endless.

Cupid can strike at any time and what’s worse… one loses all control as soon as love comes calling. They say all emotions can be modulated, all except love. When falling in love for the first time, one feels things he’s never felt before. When falling in love all over again, one learns to appreciate things in a different way. Love is all about feeling affection and passion for someone/something, getting a feeling of acceptance… and it almost always involves a lot of thinking and some serious contemplation.

Now we unknowingly use the term ‘falling in love’(I just did!) without giving much thought to what it actually means- ‘falling’ in love. True… some ‘fall’ in love and later pay the price for doing so. Whom are we talking about here? Jilted lovers, divorced couples, wasted individuals, etcetera. BUT lets change the term a little, and I take the liberty of modifying it to ‘rising in love’. Yes, this sounds more positive and is surely more apt. History is redundant with examples of people achieving big because of possessing what we crave for the most- love. It bestows on us a feeling of completeness, sanguinity, and complacence. Sometimes it takes us to a different plane altogether. Often used as a synonym of obsession, attachment, infatuation and even crushes… we can be flexible enough and let it be confused with all these things because life is not always about watertight compartments. Take a bird’s eye view and we see everything is intermingled and interconnected.

Come Valentine’s Day and we see tiny red hearts and roses ALL around… in shops, on TV, on cards, in the newspapers and on the roads as well. The celebrations are notched up a tad higher each year and V day is now a million dollar industry for the people who were sane and sensible enough to cash in on this growing ‘trend’ at the right time (read: archies). Infact new runners in this rat race are also catching up fast and easy by offering more innovative ways of expressing love. Now, I am no shiv saini or anything… but sometimes the whole hoopla makes you wonder how much bigger will this get? I mean all the money spent on going out, messaging and buying cards and gifts can be put to better use. For the people who say it is the day to celebrate love--- why just confine the celebrations to one day?? Isn’t it an ongoing process?

Probably the only pitfall of the whole phenomena is the amount of effort that goes into falling ‘out’ of love. It takes immeasurable amounts of resistance, restrain, anger and frustration to get over that one object of affection. Love in its worst form takes the form of obsession. Sometimes life’s get ruined, people lose their ability to fall in love again, get wasted, need a counselor, eat themselves silly and shop like a maniac… while in other more solemn cases, they fail miserably at the ‘falling out’ bit altogether. But they say there is always a silver lining to every cloud. This cloud is no different. Agreed that some times it all seems very ugly… but at other times, falling out of love proves to be a bittersweet journey to redemption and self-realization. Love is capable of teaching a thousand lessons at one go… imparting the knowledge of a million books all at once… quite capable of transforming a crazy and impractical lover into a sagacious saint.

The movie industry is probably the one domain that has capitalized the most on the widespread predominance of this emotion. Since times immemorial, the moviemakers have cashed in by showcasing the different facets of love on the silver screen. Almost every movie ever made has got love to flaunt somewhere or the other. In most Indian movies, love is often the underlying base of the whole plot… the whole story is centered on the meeting/non-meeting of the two lovers. Garnish this with some running around the trees, a few songs, some foreign locales, extravagant clothing and jewellery, a few thrills… and you have all the makings of a big box-office blockbuster. This is the formula that big movie directors like Karan Johar and Yash Chopra have exploited and earned millions on. Now I’m deviating from course and will stop talking about the cinema, mainly because the ‘movie-matra’ deserves a separate post altogether.

But keeping in tune with the topic, I recently watched the movie ‘shall we dance’ and made a mental note of Susan Sarandon’s immortal lines that go like---
“We all need a witness to our lives. There are a billion people on this planet. What does anyone’s life really means? But in love, you are promising to care about everything… the good things, the bad things, the terrible things and the mundane things. All of it, all the time, everyday. You’re saying ‘your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it… your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness.’ You can call me a nut if you like!”
--- That pretty much sums up the essence of what we call love. Although here, she’s being specific about lover’s/spouse’s love. But in reality, as I’ve pointed out earlier, love encompasses a lot more than just that... though the degree of intensity might differ greatly. People fall in love with a plethora of other things. Some are in love with themselves (narcissists); some fall in love with physical and tangible things- their cars, books, material possessions; some love their jobs, or their lives; some feel deeply attached to their parents, siblings and family. Love can assume different forms but the whole discussion boils down to one simple conclusion--- love it or hate it… sooner or later, it is bound to happen to everybody. And when the time comes, I suggest you sit back and enjoy the ‘heady’ ride (with a pinch of salt every now and then!) :)

First things first, and this is for the regulars, I have been keeping a little busy people… hence the dearth of posts in the past few weeks. The next 2-3 weeks are going to be no different with my exams coming and all, but I’ll try to stay as regular as possible.

Now for the actual post:

25th December 2006:
* Scene 1- My cozy bedroom *
12:00am: I’m enjoying a still night when suddenly…* buzz * --- my phone buzzes to break the silence. It’s a message from a friend wishing me merry Christmas. In the festive spirit, I reply back with a cherry message and good wishes. Things are calm again and now I’m trying to concentrate on work, when I’m shook up by another * buzz * --- one more friend wishing me Christmas. I reply back to this one as well. Concentrate… concentrate… but * buzzes ** rings * --- I’m startled many times over… more good wishes and season greetings are exchanged… and this goes on for one whole hour.

* Scene shift – Connaught Place market, Central Delhi *
3:00pm: The winter vacations have just started and I’m out catching up with a dear one in cp. An awesome music show and a brief session of sifting through Oxford Bookstore later, we are out on the streets looking for a present for my younger brother. He suggests a swiss army knife and we find ourselves looking for a shop that would sell one. One quick glance and you realize that the market scene is quite interesting here: shop windows painted by/covered in oodles of red and white, christmas sale everywhere, fake santas out on the streets giving away sweets to kids, crowds supposedly ‘enjoying the festival’, christmas decorations coupled with small vendors selling red and white balloons. “Marketing gimmick”, is what he calls it all. I’m having second thoughts. I bump into classmates and upon asking what they were doing there… I get a “celebrating christmas!” out of them. I smirk and walk on.

*Scene shift – Today *
So what makes me blog about the whole thing?? Nothing major… this post is just a result of serious distaste, grave revulsion and grim disgust. Whoa! Why all these things?? Well for one, and I want to make it very clear that I have nothing against christmas whatsoever, when did the majority of our population turn catholic?? Second, if the statistics do support my argument, why are we celebrating the festival with such gaudy pomp?? Why the midnight wishes and christmas sale on the streets? In hope of reaching a satisfying answer, I make a few observations. Maybe the western culture/influence is fast catching up with us and is here to stay. Or maybe we are just a bunch of jovial, enthusiastic people looking for a reason to celebrate. Maybe a drop of the hat is a big enough reason for us to get together and commemorate.

PS. I had to go out the same day cause I was leaving town the next morning.
PPS. No, my intention is NOT to hurt the sentiments of any section/strata of the society. These are just my independent views and may be supported or neglected by some.
PPPS. I’m prissy and I know it.
PPPPS. My astonishment notwithstanding, I had a great day… all thanks to a highly ‘receptive’ company :)

VIGNETTE: Description of an awfully tragic morning: Being late for college and taking an auto in an attempt to make it on time. Riding in what proves out to be a ‘death-auto’ for 13 long minutes. Frantically running all the way to the class only to enter a half-empty space and finding out that all the classes have been called off. Thinking of still utilizing the time by getting some pending work done at the other end of Delhi. Going to the metro station in hope of speeding things up and finding out that the damned metro services from the university station have been curtailed for the day due to some dharnas. Realizing that there is no other way to get to ‘the other end’. Returning home dejected. Thinking of digging your teeth into your favorite cookie, awesome stress-buster, but finding your neighborhood grocer's shop closed.

* Curtains drawn *

Yeah, that was a brief prelude to the kind of morning I had today. Though I woke up at 6 a.m., I still managed to get late for college (a feat only I can achieve!) and decided to squander a few bucks on an auto (which spells ‘luxury’ in student’s circles here) in a desperate attempt to reach the class on time. I had an economics class and the teacher was pretty strict when it came to giving out attendance to ‘late-comers’. So I asked the auto-wallah to speed up… and big surprise: he turned out to be a maverick brave-heart! Maybe he saw this as an opportunity to display ALL his stocked up driving skills (and stunts!) and rode REAL fast…so fast that I had to hold on to my seat to stay in place! Thankfully a few narrow escapes and missed accidents later… I finally reached the college in time (with white knuckles, ofcourse!). I rushed to the class only to find out that all the classes had been called off (yes, including the eco class) cause most of the teachers hadn’t been able to make it to college due to traffic-jams that had become commonplace today. Frustrated and dejected, I decided to utilize the day anyway and thought of getting some work done at ICSI, prasad nagar. So I strolled to the university metro station, patting myself on the back, but what I saw there was no less than adding insult to injury. I saw reporters from NDTV, and other blah blah blah channels, interviewing people; asking them how the ‘closed’ metro line had “affected/hit their schedule”. Taken aback, I eventually gathered that the Delhi University-Kashmere Gate, 4 kms underground metro stretch, had been closed as a precautionary measure (because the traders had decided to gherao the delhi assembly which fell midway on the route) till further notice. For a brief moment I actually contemplated going and whacking the NDTV reporter on the head (I don’t know why though, it wasn’t her fault!) who was interviewing a univ mate as to how he felt about the whole ‘metro line abruptly closing down’ thing. Instead, I walked away from the scene and cribbed in quite murmurs to myself and cursed lady luck for having abandoned me on the very first day of the week-Monday (which is quite unpopular anyway… cause of its ‘inherent quality/ability/trait’ of yanking people out of weekends and throwing them into the tiring hustle-bustle of daily life).

So seeing all my hopes of making some good of the day falling flat on their face, I started back home. Saw truckloads of people being ferried to the assembly… they shouted slogans against the MCD sealing drive… resolute anger and determination marked their faces. All this; while me, dejected beyond measure, tried thinking about the good things in life… but all that plagued my mind were sad thoughts and gloomy tales.

Blink! Hang on… it can’t be all that bad! I just needed to think like an optimist and try to find out the silver lining to this cloud. Hmmm… now what good can this bring? Oh, ofcourse! This was an awesome opportunity for me to snuggle up in my sheets at home, with a nice book in my hand (bought ‘memoirs of a geisha’ yesterday) and dig my teeth into my favorite cookie! Wow! Why hadn’t I thought of this before?!? So with a newfound spring in my steps, I hop along the way to my neighborhood grocer to get a packet of the heavenly cookies, with gleamy stars in my eyes leading the way. Could hardly wait to execute my brilliant plan for the afternoon! But then it happened… lady ‘bad luck’ couldn’t have been crueler… I see (and suddenly remember it was a ‘traders’ strike… and the grocer was no exception) that the shop’s shutter was down with two heavy locks securely holding it in place. And then one more realization, which can safely be called the ‘cherry on the cake’, dawned on me- the strike was going to go on for three days… till the 1st of November…

* Curtains fall *

EPILOGUE: Ok, now I officially put an end to all the cribbing and tell you what I finally did:

I went back home, switched on my computer, and typed the whole ordeal down as a blog entry ;)

P.S. 1: Blogosphere is an awesome place to vent out your anger.

P.S. 2: The above pics was taken first hand while returning back home.

P.S. 3: NO, I haven’t exaggerated anywhere in the post.

P.S. 4: Desperately hope that the coming two days of the bandh prove better.

P.S. 5: Delhi seems paralysed!

The pink city, Jaipur, is famous for many things- food, people, splendor, valour… but the one thing that is often overlooked is the innovative bent of mind that the people here are blessed with. One recent ‘innovation’ that caught my eye was the ‘finish-it-yourself mini dusshera ravanas’. Allow me to elucidate--- I returned from Delhi to Jaipur a day before the much celebrated dusshera festival and was greeted by hoards of mini ravans sitting pretty on every major (and every not-so-major) goods shelf of store-keepers. Ravans ranging from 3-6 feet, costing anywhere from Rs.300-Rs 1000, gleamed at me from every nook and corner of the city. All one was expected to do was to finish them by adding the ‘cracker’ zing… and bang! Your very own mini ravana was ready to be later burnt up in smoke- in celebration of India’s rich historic culture, tradition, values… that still live on in the hearts and minds of united Indians. Philosophy aside… I bought a 3-feet ravana myself (cost me somewhere around Rs.350), finished it with crackers and watched it go up in flames on dusshera night. Cost notwithstanding, the fun it afforded was priceless. Truly an idea which, it seems, could be emulated by retailers of other cities soon. The beginning of a new trend in festival-specific, money-making ideas?? Only time will tell…