On a lighter note...

Of  late I have been seeing plenty of old Bollywood movies. I was kind of surprised to deduce some interesting analogy. Its to do with rape scenes. Thing is, most of the 1980's movies had at least one rape scene. Be it Padmini Kohlapuri or the professional rapist, Shakti Kapoor. Only during a rape scene the camera is zoomed at the woman's cleavage or all her agony is captured. But when it comes to two people in love kissing each other, all they show is 2 flowers bumping into each other. Why?

Not many movies are complete without a rape scene. More often than not, the entire movie is based on a rape scene, as if there is no other better story line. Villain rapes (or attempts to) hero's sister. Hero takes revenge. Or, Villain attempts to rape heroin and then hero saves her. They fall in love. You get my drift?
What bothers me is that, is it really true that rapes have become part and parcel of Indian society? If yes, why is it shown in such a way that no deductions are made?
There is nothing funny about a rape; yet so many movies revolve around this. Strange, dont you think so?

1.76 lack crores...

I never knew, until 3 days ago that there is a denomination called, 1.73 Lack Crore. This can happen only in India; one person in a party does something stupid which costs the government money and the DMK leader extends full support.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/go...in-court-65756
I had a huge argument with one of my friends regarding corruption in India. He maintains that every party is corrupt (which is true) to some extent; this time it has gone too far. But just because some other party is less corrupt doesnt mean they are any noble, are they?

I am reminded of a joke. A man walks up to woman in bar and asks.. "Will you sleep with me if I gave you a million dollars?". Woman looks around and says .. "Ok." He then asks "What about for $20?" And she answers "$20? What do you think I am??" And he replies "We have already established what you are - now we are just negotiating!"

We do not respect the Auditors revealings and still await on the fate of IT minister Raja; we let go of a child molester, Rathore after a teenage girl has lost life; we let go of Kalmadi after the games; Kasab is still alive....

What is happening to India?

Freedom of speech, gone too far...

Yes, I am talking about the renowned author, Booker prize winner (for God of Small Things), Arundhati Roy. I always felt that Ms. Roy is after the media-lime-lite but this time, the freedom of speech has gone a bit too far.
To say that, "Kashmir has never been an integral part of India" is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard. Its like, chopping your own foot with an axe!

Here is my take on this issue. What Ms Roy is saying is correct when it comes to, poor, young women getting raped (recent case Asiya and Nilofer), Kashmir under constant pressure from all sides, and the heart-broken families who have lost their loved ones in the name of war. BUT, the solutions (or the lack of it) is what makes me wince. People of Kashmir want, "insaaf" from Indian government is what Ms Roy claims. I ask, freedom from what? Doesn't she realize that, the moment Kashmir is declared as "not-a-part-of-India", our neighboring countries would occupy the land in no time literally massacring every single citizen?  I would give Kashmir like maybe 5 minutes before it is completely occupied, from the moment it gets its so called 'freedom'. I cant believe that Ms roy seriously believes that India is actually causing more harm to Kashmir-state than good.
How come, she has not given a single moments thought about scores of soldiers who were killed, trying to (and succeed) protect Kashmir? The word traitor comes to my mind, but I will refrain from saying so.

I think Ms Roy is aiming to be Aung San Suu Kyi. House-arresting (or any kind of restrain) her would only get her more sympathy and more media attention which I think is what she is after.
If it were up to me, I would completely ignore her.
Just like the media, she never sticks with one single issue until it is sorted. After crying her heart out with Pokran issue, she went after issues over Narmada, literally hijacking the spotlight from Medha Patkar.

One thing every politician should learn (in my opinion) from her is her smartness. She is rich, yet, is always seen amongst poor. She makes statements which would get her killed in any other country, yet, makes them in such a way that no one really can say a boo to her.

Her extraordinarily good writing skills is something I always admired. Agree that almost every article she writes is grossly exaggerated, but usually she has a point. Of course, the solutions (again the lack of it) is something different altogether.The carefully built self-image is something every politician should learn.

How Life Changes...

I don't know why I am in a reflective mood lately. Maybe because of Diwali preparations or it could be anything. I started thinking about how we used to shop for Diwali around this time of the year. I could be wrong but in olden days I felt that Diwali was somewhere in early Oct? Now its November.

My mother passed me on one of her jewelry sets for my marriage. My Mother In Law passed me on "puliaaru" (Lord Ganesha's stone murthi) after getting married. This was given to her by her MIL. How days go by and how years rollby!
All the Diwali sweets/snacks my mom used to make then, I am now making at home. Soon there will children, they grow up and it would be my turn to pass on what I had been given. It would be their turn in no time...

In this wide space, where does life stop? Does it matter how happy we are right now(or how sad) when we look at the bigger picture?

Anyway, we decorated our home for Halloween. Here are a few pictures.Below is the picture taken when we went pumpkin picking in a near by farm. Rows and rows of them!

My flower vase in the dining room :)

No :) its neither my hand nor my husbands :) Ha ha! my home is haunted!!!

I bought so many candy this year for trick or treat. Do you like my decorations for Halloween?