Do you eat with your hands?

I distinctly recall a friend of mine, who took offense whenever she saw people eating with their hands. According to her, it was primitive of people like me to eat food, especially rice, with their fingers. This baffled me. I was brought up or shall I say "trained" to eat neatly with my fingers, like many of my fellow countrymen. How could a person even look down upon this age-long culinary practice?

Isn't the choice of cutlery solely dependent on the local cuisine? For us Indians, our cuisine mainly comprises of food that is best enjoyed when eaten by hand. How do these "modern-cutlery-obsessed" people intend to eat chapatis or dosas with their forks and spoons?Oprah Winfrey's "Do Indian's still eat with their hands?"comment on her India visit was pretty controversial too. So, tell me Oprah, how do Americans eat their Big Macs, if not with their hands?  The food in the west widely comprises of meat, and that is why their forks and knives come in picture, in the first place. Our food could just simply be devoured by using our fingers, that is why our forefathers never found the necessity for this cutlery.

These people consider eating food with their hands unhygienic, but do not shy away from shaking their hands with a stranger. Isn't shaking a stranger's hand upon meeting them more unhygienic, given the fact,you don't even know where that hand had been a while before? That is a shameful "double-standard".

Why are we even refrained from eating with our hands in public, categorizing it as a "not-so-gauche" table etiquette. Our culture has encouraged us to eat with our hands, then why does this foreign etiquette even define what is more respectable and what is not? I find it really graceful to eat with my hand, and enjoy every bit of that experience. I refuse to let go of my roots, owing to the grievous misconception of some "sophisticated" people.

The thoughts of a disturbed mind

Do you ever feel like you're lost in desperation, in the clutches of depression ? The words of people go over your head and all you feel is like you've been dragged into an abyss, an emptiness. You keep telling yourself you're perfectly fine, but even your everyday chores seem exhilarating. You feel exhausted for no apparent reason. All you wanna do is just hole up in your room, draw the covers over your head and go in a deep slumber and never wake up to face this gruesome world.

If this is how you feel like, then don't worry..These tedious times tend to make us more sensitive to other's perception about us. Yes, we've all been let down in life. We've been humiliated, betrayed and hurt. But should we just let ourselves down, because we're too scared to deal with the pain? Put yourself first. Snap out of it. Easier said, than done. But, work at it one day at a time. It may seem like an impossible task in the beginning, but time heals all wounds. You're the only person who can help yourself. Your mind might seem like a war zone now, but learn to win the battle within yourself first. Don't let your depressed self take the lead.
 
You're young. You still have a lot of fight left in you. You are in this world for a purpose. Let not silly things and the fragments of your disturbed mind erode your life away. Life is beautiful. Live in the present and enjoy every bit of it. So one fine day, at a fine moment when your mind starts realizing the fact that your heart will cease to beat and your time has come, you would embrace death because you'll know that you didn't just survive, but lived your life.  :)

Hero

       A popular Bollywood actor made the headlines in recent times for the shocking analogies he made on rape. But, he is still the "hero" for some  thousands of people in this country who affectionately acknowledge him as "Bhai". Is it even a suitable connotation to be conferred to a person, who has very carelessly made a  statement which is bound to hurt the sentiments of the concerned victims? This same actor had been accused in the past of beating his ex-girlfriends up, hunting down a blackbuck and he has gone as far as running people over with his SUV. Yet, sadly, he is still a darling among the masses, and is also apparently the goodwill ambassador for the Rio Olympics this year.
       
         Why even call such people our heroes? Are we "brain-dead" or something to not differentiate between their reel and real lives? We have thousands of fan clubs dedicated to them, we buy stuffs from their merchandize and literally drool over them. And these people go on living by their own rules. There was a famous incident which took place a few years ago, where a police constable in Mumbai was caught shaking hands with a convicted felon(who also happened to be a popular "hero") while he was been taken to the court . And there are even some Godforsaken temples dedicated to our film stars!
    
          It's about time, we snap out of this idiocracy. If you wanna know who a true hero is, then sometimes look over to the persons who have brought you up through thick and thin-  parents. If that isn't satisfying enough, then get out of your house , and you're going to see a million of heroes. It could be a single mother who is struggling to bring her kids up, a roadside vendor who must be busy counting the money to pay for his kid's education, or an army man who has valiantly fought for our country.

      Yes,there are millions of unsung heroes out there. They don't get any validation or credit for doing something as grand as this. Oh yes, I forgot it's because we're all too busy hailing some phony actors as our role models and ideals....

It's a strange strange world, got to say.

Live and let live

*Get a 9-5 job.
*Dress up accordingly.
*Get married at a young age.
*Believe in God.
*Always abide by the laws.
*Homosexuality is wrong.
*People who don't agree with the above terms are insane and definitely need some help.

Is not sticking by the societal conventions a sign of insanity? Does not loving to have a 9-5 job mean that you're outrageous? Or if a girl doesn't like to dress up in a certain way, then can we just call her crazy and berate her character? Does being an atheist and questioning the existence of God make us rebellious? If a man just decides to marry someone outside of his caste, does that mean he's a disgrace to his family? If a person has a sexual orientation, then can we demean him on that basis?

I was a staunch believer of all these aforementioned "societal conventions" once upon a time. I seriously think I was wrong. In this vast universe, how would my perspective and the knowledge in my pea sized brain even matter? But, now I think every person has the right to live the life he likes, as long as it doesn't jeopardize someone else's life.

Aren't we even taught right from our childhood to never question the doctrines laid down for us? Shouldn't we just, for a while, stop believing in what we'd  always thought was the ultimate universal truth and start looking at the world with a fresh pair of eyes?

Does refusing to believe in what has been fed to us make us insane?

Woah! I'm feeling incredibly thoughtful today. 

Rantings of an introvert

   When people come up to my parents and tell them that their younger daughter just doesn't interact much, they don't act surprised. I've always been a silent person growing up. I had a handful of friends, wasn't quite popular at school or anything at all. There was a  constant pressure from my parents and teachers who always compelled me to open up and be cheerful. Well truth be told, I was mostly comfortable with who I was. I liked my seclusion and personal space. I liked reading, drawing, watching movies etc.
     Anyway, I was always told to be like my friends and be more outgoing like them. As time went by, I started seeing this trait of mine in a negative light. I tried to be more extroverted and started acting like the "ideal" persons I was supposed to be like. But at the end of the day, I always felt so exhausted. It used to drain me off. Finally, curling up in the bed and maybe reading some article online or a nice nap would usually cheer me up.
         Ok. Enough of backstory now. As far as I see it, I'd like to classify myself as an introvert. Myers and Briggs have given some typical definition about introversion.(Their definition was a part of my Industrial management curriculum. Ok. That's a bit off topic)Anyway, I've summed up the definition in the first two paragraphs of this post.
          Let me get one thing clear first- being an introvert just doesn't simply mean that I'm sad. Nope, I'm not. So please take that myth off your minds. Also, it doesn't make me an anti-social pessimist. I just like solidarity. If you see me at a party sitting somewhere in a corner looking uninterested, then don't assume that I'm not fond of the people around me. I just choose to sit there and enjoy it my way. The worst misconception about me is that I'm a very shy person. LOL..! I assure you I'm not.
         Yeah. If you just wanna have a small talk with me, then it's better you don't initiate the conversation at all. I really won't respond much. But, if the topic thrills me (for example movies), then you'll have hard time shutting me up. So choose wisely :D
          The reason why I've decided to rant in this post is because introversion is usually looked down upon by people. How about I put it this way? If a child likes chocolate ice cream and hates the strawberry flavor, can you force feed him? Nope. So some people just choose to stay this way right from their childhood. 21 years of my life have gone by and today I'm finally embracing my personality without being skeptical. I like living my life this way. So please don't try to make me pass off as an extrovert. Sadly, most of my life I've always believed that my nature was something very peculiar and jeez... some people have also told me I'll have trouble facing interviews and making friends. Pfft.. I've a handful of good friends and I've faced my interviews well too. LOL.  But being who I am seems way better than being someone who they want me to be. :)

             **Introvert and proud**

P.S:  These were the fragments of my nagging mind. I think most of you must've been flustered by now. Anyway, try putting the pieces together and see if you can understand what I mean. If you can relate, then don't forget to drop a comment by. Have a good day ahead!
         

Cultural appropriation or appreciation?

If you're a netizen, then you've probably heard of the fuss been made of Coldplay's latest single, "Hymn for the weekend". The video for this song was shot in India, and there has been an internet backlash regarding the way India is portrayed in this.

Well if you ask me, being a massive Coldplay fanatic, this news did come as a disappointment to me. I immediately stopped all my work, looked the video up and spent the next 4 minutes watching it.  The next thing I did was, scroll down the comments section for the video and comment in there. I typed, " It's Coldplay's best single yet. Loved every bit of it."

But as the internet has it, some of our fellow countrymen took offense in watching that video. They accused Coldplay of stereotyping India in the typical manner westerners often do. The video showcased Indian slums, half naked kids running on streets and throwing colors at the lead man Chris Martin and also a kid on the street dressed up as a deity. They also pointed out that it portrayed India in a negative light. There was furore over the entire content shown in it.

I beg to differ. From my perspective, I think the video contains pretty much of that part of India, which is devoid of the modern urbanised city life. Yes, I agree that India is no longer just a country of snake charmers and backwardness,  and we are one of the fastest developing nations in the world with immense growth in technology. We are a force to be reckoned with and there is a lot more to India than what was showcased in the video. But...

We just can't deny the fact that the scenes shown in the video do very much exist in India. There are two sides to this nation. The urban, fast developing and modern India, whereas on the other hand , we can see dire poverty in this same nation as well. So here I am sitting in a comfortable room with a smartphone in hand and typing out what's on my mind, but I bet, there are thousands of kids out there in my country who probably have no homes and are just wandering around the streets begging for money.

Speaking of clichés, I strongly believe that we Indians stereotype our own countrymen too. Our Bollywood movies often show south Indians as people with phoney accents and probably a man named as Muthuswamy and his lungi is usually an object of ridicule. Similarly, the maid of most of the households is usually some Sakhubai, a typical illiterate Marathi woman. Most of the times a Punjabi is showcased as a dumb person in the movies, too busy drinking lassi and eating parathas. When our own countrymen are stereotyped by their fellow countrymen, nobody bats an eyelid. But if a foreigner stereotypes us, all the firangi drama and lectures on colonialism begin.

Coming back to the video, it does showcase  a part of India. That part very much exists here. I don't think a foreigner would come to India and start filming near the Worli sea link. He'll pretty much be interested in the things that capture his attention. So quite honestly, I think all the uniqueness of India was shown beautifully in this video. In fact I even read a comment from a Brazilian guy who said he didn't know that India was so unique and would definitely love to come here and be part of our color throwing festival(Holi). Doesn't that showcase our uniqueness and also promote tourism?

Anyway, the only thing I found annoying in this video was Sonam Kapoor's blink- and-you'll-miss-it cameo. Yet, her enthralling beauty did add glamour. Also, Beyonce looked stunning in her Indian outfit playing a Bollywood actress.

Ok. I do realize there are at least 50% of you readers who do not agree with me. Anyway, I'm entitled to my own opinions. So I strongly choose to defend this video. On this note, I'd like to end this post!  :)

P.S. : Ohh yes, the title of this post also has some significance. Decide for yourself if the video was culturally appropriate or does it deserve appreciation?  :)