Dreams

Dreams. The word itself makes us feel dreamy. Some of us dream of being billionaires, others want to own super cars. Many of us want to be more famous than Michael Jackson. As long as we live, our dreams just never cease to exist. We keep fantasizing about them.

I've had many dreams in my life so far. As a child, I wanted to be richer than Bill Gates and travel the world( there still aren't any signs of money in my life). As a teenager, I wanted to be famous. Justin Bieber was my idol. I wanted to be a teenage sensation who would take over the globe. (That's lame, given the fact that I kind of despise Bieber now). I also wanted to own a private jet to travel the world and what not.

Then I joined engineering. There were times when I'd forgotten to ground my circuits ( which by the way is a big NO NO in electronics) and saw sparks fly along with a cloud of smoke rise from my entangled circuit accompanied by a pungent smell which was strong enough to burn my nostrils. Well, the point is that I could forget something as simple as this, but the image of the Niagra waterfalls I had seen somewhere in my fourth grade textbook is still fresh in my mind. If you've been reading the second paragraph keenly, then you'd have figured out by now what my dream is. Yes, the common denominator of all my dreams was to travel the world.

Be it Sicily which is famous for it's wild honey or the cherry blossoms in Japan, I wish to see that all. I want to click a selfie at the remnants of the Berlin wall, go to those fairytale castles in Bavaria and also have tacos in Mexico. The forests of the Amazon thrill me and a wildlife Safari in Africa would just be awesome. I wish to take long walks on a beach somewhere in Miami and also want to go scuba diving and feast my eyes with the corals underwater.

I wish to travel the world. Maybe with a small backpack which holds all the essentials I would need on the journey. A polaroid camera, strong shoes, a notebook, a hat and lots of stamina. The journey would be exhilarating at times, but I want to make memories as I go.

I know, most of you readers would just dismiss my dreams by saying that these are the quirks of a young mind. But, in all honesty, this has been my lifelong dream. Something that I never got off my mind. It is an integral part of my very existence. I would hate to die in oblivion. Travelling the world would teach me a lot. I would be able to meet different people, learn new cultures and traditions.

I'm not sure if my dreams would come in fruition, but I'd strive hard for it. Sixty years from now, even when I'd be old, withered and probably toothless, I'm still sure that my passion for seeing the world would persist.

Do you have a similar dream? Do let me know. And this reminded me of the lyrics of a famous song(I forgot the song's name, but I surprisingly remember the lines!)
"Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart..."

P.S: I typed this while waiting for my turn at a dentist's clinic! It surely was a nice way to pass my time.

Bindi

          I completed my schooling from a Christian school. We weren’t supposed to wear any jewellery, bindi or cosmetics to school. As a result, I grew up repelling all these “beauty enhancers.” My mother always insisted that I wear bindis on traditional occasions. I complied in the beginning, but now I don’t even care to do that. Being an over-thinker , I wondered what exactly was the significance of this bindi.

          Bindis have always been an integral part of Hinduism. We can see many Hindus wearing these traditional dots on their foreheads mostly between their eyebrows. I wondered, why should it only be worn there? Why nowhere else on the body? Quite frankly, I’m not an expert on our traditional rituals and dogma. So I had to dig a bit deeper to find out an answer to this question.

         The term bindi was derived from the Sanskrit word Bindu which means point. Well, traditionally the area where these bindis are worn is associated to the Ajna Chakra. This is the point where, according to yogis, the power of one’s mind is concentrated. This area is where a person’s third eye or wisdom is concealed.

           Bindu is considered as the dot or point at which creation begins and may become unity. It is a sacred symbol which represents a person’s spirituality. Therefore, wearing a bindi traditionally signifies a person’s concealed wisdom. But, as time went by, it just became a part of beauty enhancement. It’s a shame that most of our men and women are not aware of the real meaning of these dots(I was one of them.Well, it’s better late than never). I’ve also noticed some women wearing these adhesive fancy bindis that actually cover the entire forehead. Does this mean that their wisdom is concealed on their entire forehead? Woah! That would surely make them very witty! LOL!

           So, after finding out the truth behind this dot, I would definitely want to wear it. It would signify my spirituality and would also serve as a constant reminder of my inner concealed power and wisdom.(I almost sounded philosophical now!) Who knows maybe one day I’d start meditating as well?

          I’d have to digress a bit now. My exams are near and here I am thinking about bindis! Well, writing is my forte and I’ve always put it above anything else. Anyway, I hope you’ve liked reading this post. Do let me know about your thoughts on these bindis. Have a great day ahead!

P.S: The space between our eyebrows is known as glabella.(I seriously never thought there was a term as such. It sounds like the name of a disease!! hahaha)

What is love?

From the past few days, I had been reading Ravinder Singh’s “I too had a love story”. Love stories have never been my forte. I don’t know why, but these things just bored the hell out of me. (I think I am the only Indian girl who hasn’t finished watching Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge yet! Never understood what the hype was all about.) I found this book to be pretty boring and uninteresting at the beginning. But, by the end, I realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks! I just got carried away by the level of honesty with which Ravinder had beautifully composed his story.

This got me thinking, ”What is love?”. Quite frankly, the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear this question is Haddaway’s famous hilarious music video, “What is love?”, where we can see Jim Carrey and Will Farell bobbing their heads frantically and gate crashing every possible party in the vicinity. So I just turned up to my best friend to find out an answer for this most confusing question. His name is Google. The search results came up with a definition for the term love. How cool! It said, ”Love is a variety of different feelings, states and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection to pleasure. It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment”.

I also learnt that “What is love?” was the most searched phrase on Google in 2012. (Seriously, I thought I was the only lame person who would search something like this on the internet. Good news, I am not alone!) Some people said, ”Love is chemistry.”(You know it refers to the ‘chemistry’ between couples and not our H2O and HCL type of chemistry :D ) Some said, “Love comes in different guises.” Others said, “Love is pure” and all those filmy lines. So basically, Romeo and Juliet, Laila and Majnu are the epitomes of the greatest love stories ever told.

But personally ,for me, it’s my grandma and grandpa who stayed together for so long. In her later years, my grandma suffered from dementia. She had forgotten the names of all her kids and grandkids. She even used to forget the path to her own bedroom. She never forgot one person though-her husband who had deceased two decades ago. She surprisingly remembered him! To me, that’s what true love is. It doesn’t mean dying for each other. It just means growing old together and being with each other for the rest of our lives. Even if death do us apart, the memories we made together should be cherished.

Truth be told, I don’t have enough experience to comment on this four lettered mysterious word. Like, seriously!! But I’d like to quote some of our favorite personalities in this post.

“Everything is clearer when you are in love” – John Lennon(the coolest Beatle. My all time favourite!)

“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.” -Paulo Coelho(the author of “The Alchemist”. Such an inspirational man he is!)

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving. ”  -Paulo Coelho (Again it’s Paulo!)

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."  - Paulo Coelho(Seriously, his quotes are just so beautiful, I could type out a hundred more.)

“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I wanna do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me…everyday.”-Nicholas Sparks(the author of ‘The Notebook’. OK. If you haven’t heard of ‘The Notebook’, then you might as well plan to settle down somewhere on Mars. :D)

If you are a romantic at heart, then I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the above quotes. (I mean all these quotes just suddenly make you feel all fuzzy and dreamy, right?? ) Anyway, I was listening to Hozier’s ‘Take me to Church’ a couple of minutes ago while typing this.(I love multitasking). The lyric also hinted at some lovey-doveyness. (Again, is that even a word??). So I’d also quote Hozier next.

“If I’m a pagan of the good time, my lover’s a sunlight”

So with this beautiful line, I’d like to end my post. Well, all your valuable feedbacks for my previous posts were really encouraging and overwhelming.(I seriously thought nobody would read this blog in the beginning.) A big thanks for all your support and constant encouragement.

P.S.: I think I am secretly a romantic at heart as well. Woah!! That’s a big revelation!

But first, let me take a selfie!

    It was almost 4pm in the evening. I heard my mother calling me to the balcony. I went there and she was looking at a group of teenage boys(they must be hardly 17 year olds) too busy clicking photos of themselves in the garden which was in front of the building we stayed in."What on earth are they even doing?" she asked me with utter disgust. "They are just clicking pictures or selfies,Amma." I said grinningly. "I know", my mother snapped, "but these guys are just obsessed.Looks like all they care about is how their photographs would look.This generation is obsessed with selfies."
         I came back to my room to check my Instagram. Ahaa..The number of likes for my selfie have doubled since the last time I checked it. With delight and satisfaction, I started scrolling down my phone's gallery to see if I had other good pictures of mine in store or not. No good pictures found. I started clicking photos of myself with the hope of ending up with a good selfie. Time passed by. Hard luck. I don't know why or when but my mom's words suddenly hit me. Am I just one of the selfie obsessed persons she earlier spoke in contempt about? Umm..Maybe yeah.
         Being an electronic engineering student myself, I understand what kind of geniuses must have come up with these mind boggling smart phones. Just hold your smartphone, turn the camera on and voila,you are the paparazzi. But has too much of user friendly smartphone technology turned people (especially teenagers) into attention seeking narcissists?
        I remember reading an article about this selfie obsessed generation. Turns out, if not taken care of in time, this might actually turn into a chronic mental disorder. They had also given an example of a British teenager who was so obsessed with clicking a perfect selfie that he approximately clicked 200 pics of himself everyday. Deprived of proper sleep and food, he had to be admitted to a hospital.OK, now that's an extreme case of the "selfie disorder".(Thank God, I am not there yet!)I mean ,come on!!! Even our honourable PM is busy out there clicking selfies!
          I think we have just become too self obsessed with ourselves and our looks. It's like social media and the number of likes we garner for our photos decide how we look. That's why we strive to click better pictures of ourselves to feel more confident and increase our self esteem.But, does this virtual world of social media really play any role in making us feel more confident and beautiful? After some deliberation, I think NO.
           So, I have vowed to do something. I want to stay away from these selfies for a while. I know it won't do me any good(also one of my favorite songs happen to be The Chainsmoker's "Selfie", damn!!)I was unknowingly building up a habit. Who knows when this habit might turn into an obsession? I would also urge you readers (if you too are in the "selfie obsessed" league) to stop it right away. Let's just not turn into some selfish, beauty conscious mere creatures.Well, it's better late than never.
             So, in closure, I'd like to say my usual lines(hahaha). Thanks for reading and have a good day ahead. :)

P.S. : The word selfie has also been included in the latest version of the Oxford dictionary.

       
       

My name

       I am a malayali who was brought up in Maharashtra. I grew up amidst the exposure of both the cultures  right from my childhood. That’s why before starting my school life, I was already aware of three languages-Malayalam, my mother tongue, Marathi, my favourite language and Hindi(thanks to Shaktimaan and the other Hindi tv shows I binge watched!).

       So, going to school made me realize that something about me was quite awkward to the others- my name MANU MOHAN .I had no surname. All my friends had surnames, but why didn’t I? I never got it back then. My mother told me that we are Keralites and surnames do not really play any role in our society .There I was the surname less weirdo. Quite frankly, I am often bombarded with questions like, ”Is your name for real?”,”Is MANU your first name or MOHAN?”(btw my father’s name is Mohan) and blah blah blah. I know Manu is a boy’s name. My parents named me after a boy because I have an elder sister .So they had already decided in advance that they’d name their second child as Manu-be it a boy or a girl.   All of you might have guessed by now that I’m going to babble about my name in this post. Yes, you are absolutely right!

      “What’s in a name?” is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous lines. Umm, Mr.Shakespeare, I  disagree with you. There are a lot of things that a person with an awkward name in the society could relate to. For instance, my name in my voter’s card is Manu Mohan Mohan. My Aadhar card name is Manu Mohan G.(Again why should my father’s initial G be included in my Aadhar card??) I also remember running errands to the university for getting a correction in my name. Some of the forms I fill get rejected because I leave the surname box blank.  In fact, some people just enter my gender as male in forms, as soon as they see my name. So “What’s in a name?” doesn’t really imply to me. All these incidents made me loathe my name at one point in life.

         I remember complaining to my parents and blaming them for naming me so. My mother responded by asking me a plain simple question, ”Have you ever come across a girl named Manu?” I never understood her logic. Now I understand what she meant. She wanted my name to be unique and stand out from the crowd. What’s so wrong with my name anyway? Manu was the first man on earth according to Hinduism and so was it Rani Laxmibai’s nickname(also it’s an abbreviation for Manchester United..!!)                            

           Today, I am really comfortable with my name. I would be ever thankful to my mother for giving me such a beautiful and unique name. If I ever come across a person who finds me being surname less bizarre, then I really pity that person. Ok. Fine.  Maybe you’ve never met a person from South India to understand our naming system. But I bet you sure as hell must have watched cricket. Haven’t you come across names like VVS Laxman , S Sreesanth or Ravichandran  Ashwin? Haven’t you ever wondered what their surnames were? Well, ignorance is not bliss.

            This one goes out to all the malayalis out there. If you think my name is weird owing to the fact that I am a girl, then well, news flash-I am MANU and I am a girl. Go ahead and make fun of my name.  Atleast you’ll always remember me.

             I don’t mean to impose anything on this post against the people who don’t understand my   name. It’s just that sometimes some people sideline me and set me apart because of this. Anyway I’m proud of my name and would never in a thousand years consider changing it.

              I think today I have written an exceptionally long post. But hey, I was just pouring my heart out. By the way thanks for reading this. I would appreciate your feedback (even if it’s negative) and take it as a part of constructive criticism. Have a nice day ahead!                

       

Indian standards of beauty

      Hey everybody, this is my first post on my own blog(so technically I'm a noob blogger!)
I hope the title of my post has caught your attention.Well you'll have to stick around for a while because it's gonna be a long read.
      First things first, how do I look?.Most people mistake me to be a teenager..duh!!(btw, I'm 21),5'1" tall, curly hair,wheatish complexion, braces on my teeth, large forehead(I think it's a fivehead,you see all my five fingers fit perfectly on my forehead :) ).So by now, you'd have guessed that I don't basically fit in our Indian standards of beauty.There goes the reason why I've chosen this to be my first post.
      A wise man had once said,"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder",but how relevant is it?To be honest,growing up,I wasn't really fond of dark skinned people.I thought they didn't fit in the paradigm of beauty.Looking back,I now realize how stupid I was.I am glad to have finally found some brains.During those days I'd look upto the movie stars,supermodels and compare the entire world on that basis.I was hell bent on trying on all those ridiculous fairness creams and beauty products hoping that one day I'd start looking like a model(I'm just too embarassed to even point this out now!).No matter how hard I tried to be like them, I just ended up looking like Manu Mohan.
       As time went by, I started outgrowing that phase. I don't quite remember how or when, but I just really stopped caring about it at one point. People are judgmental about you, because that's what they do.Why should I or any other individual be even bothered by it? Every person has his/her point of view and we should not let the thoughts of others hold us back. Be who you are, instead of trying to look like someone who you are not.
       I really appreciate Kangana Ranaut for turning down the offer to endorse a fairness cream.We need people like her in our society to overcome this stigma associated to beauty.I know there are a million girls out there who are struggling to fit in the "beautiful lot" and falling prey to our stereotypes.This would do nothing less than demoralising these young teens who would be striving to look better.
        Coming back to my life, I recall what a friend of mine had once told me about the type of guys she wanted to date.She said,"First and foremost, I want him to be fair.OMG! Fair guys are so cute!" I mean seriously girl??? Is this your preference?What if he just turns out to be a blithering idiot?Would you still stay with him just because he's fair?Well, that's her definition of a perfect boy and I'd let her deal with it.But who am I to blame her? Our generation has literally grown up listening to songs like"Gore gore mukhde pe..", "..ye gore gore gaal." This is like insulting, every dark skinned person on this globe.Even the background dancers in our bollywood songs are white girls.! Come on people, we're the ones who are actually promoting this entire nonsensical crap.
          To be quite honest I'm tired of typing this out (lol). It's almost 1am and I'm literally dozing off.Anyway,I hope you've liked reading it(just in case you've made it this far!).Don't forget to give your valuable feedback. Thanks for reading.Have a good day ahead!