We are independent...really?

Alright then!! I heard it was "Happy Independence Day" yesterday. <Yawn> Well! I slept all day for it was just an extra holiday I got from my usually just one day off work schedule. Yeah, so where do I begin..errr...I was actually all plans to post yesterday itself. But then I thought people are all high with the superficial feelings of patriotism and the synonyms, why bother them!! I gave in to the phrase 'every dog has it's day'.
Lets start from the basics- Are we really independent? My facebook wall is filled with status updates ranging from enhanced quotes to 'May India be blessed' to Happy Independence Day (the least). When the entire country was running bonkers saying the three words, I chose to update my status with a Dev Anand song. Ironically, friends liked and commented but nobody questioned the 'why' of it. Why a song on this eventful day? And that folks, is the biggest irony of it all. People don't question, they just sit and go with the flow. I want to mention here that I'm referring to the commoners. No commoner in India has the nerve to step out of their comfort zone to question the government. And here again I pinched in a 'why', wondering what it is? I could have said "No Indian..." in the earlier sentence but I chose "no commoner in India..." because ladies and gentlemen, we (I include myself too) don't have the right to be called Indians. What have we done to deserve that? Nothing...zilch!! We support those people who are the actual terrorists, who have been and are still doing us all the harm. Blasts happen and victims' family is given some money and they appear fine with it. What runs in your veins people? I'm sure it's not blood. Throw the money back on their face and compel them to actually do somethng if they care. Speeches wont help, condolences wont help! Money surely wont. Why should you let your dear ones go like that? Ask the govt what would they have done had it been someone from their family at the blast incident? Would they have asked for some money and settled? What would they have done? And when I am making these questions, I want to ask one more question which is lost somewhere, why is Kasab still alive? He should be killed in the most brutal manner and now please don't give me the Ahimsa speech. Please don't preach when you yourself can't walk on those paths. Long gone are the Bapu days. I so wish those days continued. Yes, I know what I'm saying. I know we were not free then, we were living under the British Rule. But atleast we walked as one, we fought as one which today is a sad issue to even comment on. Some prominent smartasses have made us puppets in their hands and we, unfortunately, fail to use our brain against it. Somebody, from another country, comes in and starts ruling us doesn't mean belongs to our country. It takes the real blood to feel attached. Terrible but the truth! We the people of India are appreciated for our complexion, our food, our dresses and so many other things but honestly, I'm sure we are laughed at for issues like corruption and unity. CWG just added to our woes.

Getting back to the Kasab issue, why is he still alive? for more blasts? or is it a matter of vote bank? I'd like to quote a friend here "atleast don't play vote bank politics in the name of terrorism." If a terrorist is a hindu shoot him, if it's a muslim shoot him. At the end of the day he's taking innocent lives. 60 long years have passed and instead of problems lessening, problems are only increasing by the second. And we know who the real culprit is. I guess after 400 years of playing slaves, it runs in our blood. It makes me sad.
Last night I was talking to a friend on the independence issue and he suddenly said "it beats me why Pakistanis and Indian Muslims are considered same." It hit me. I hate to mention it, this friend of mine is a non-muslim but that's not what the point is. The point is that in our heart we still stand together, we still want to speak up and protect each other, however, we don't have the nerve to go against someone who says in full public eye that he/she totally supports just 'our' community. We can't dare to. Why?

Back to where I began- Are we really independent? No, we're not and perhaps, we never will be. For that, nobody is to be blamed, the onus is on us. Independence has become just like any other word in the dictionary with, of course, a little spark to it and the spark is that every year on August 15, we tell ourself and the people alike that we are celebrating this word. When in reality, this word has become a part of the game that the so-called trailblazers are playing.
So, please do not flatter yourself and celebrate Independence Day when you free urself from all this. Till then atleast don't comply with them. Do what your heart believes in. Keep poking till it becomes an ugly mark that aches.

P.S. I can't talk politics, I don't understand much of it but I do understand the difference between right and wrong. I truly feel, we should first strive to get freedom from sanity 'cause the day we get it, we'll know where to head next.

Amor perdido (what it is and we we make it)

So, what does this four letter word "LOVE" mean anyway? Varied definitions, varied emotions. How does it happen? What does one feel when in it? What does it do to you? Too many questions...ah!
I don't think I need to define love for I see it everyday blossoming at home between my parents. But that's that. What has my generation come to with it? Why is it so blown out of proportion? Maybe because it's an "in" thing or maybe because it's the need of the hour. Okay, same thing I know. Yesterday I was chatting with my friend on the same topic and he told me something which at first was like "oh what crap!" but it's the truth. He said, people today fall in love for so small a thing as dropping her home every night. That is really happening these days. I don't blame girls or boys my age. There are moments so overwhelming that we are totally in the grip of your heart. There are moments when  we want to be loved and we want to love someone back. However, that doesn't mean anybody would do. Stop and think befor diving. Emotions flow like blood in the veins and all one could at all think of is "maybe it's love". And even though one feels a "maybe" there in the heart but by the time it comes out it's "for sure". Our bollywood movies have made it such a big thing that we have Romeos and Juliets in every nook and corner.
I find it funny and at the same time thought-provoking when school-going girls talk about being madly in love with a classmate or some local band member. The stars shine better, the air has the bf's smell, the moon sends a message and boy! the blushes and the butterflies in the stomach that they feel is coming out of either novels or movies or maybe it's just the air around. I, again, don't blame them. Well! who am I anyway? I don't even know what it was to be in love during school days. I sucked at it, how would I guess!!
One thing that hits me is attraction which is pretty natural and I say, should keep happening to everyone, age no bar. But trading attraction for love is absolutely dumb. Attraction is a sober state of mind and heart. I like attractions. I have it every week, I think. But I dun confirm it for the four letter word.
The hurtful part of this entire deal is that people in love (as I take it from them) dun get hassled if they have a breakup. Okay, some are devastated but the ratio is not killer. The max junta moves on without so less as a last thought of what it could have been had it been actually LOVE. Come to think of it, Love is the purest emotion which, sadly, is in impure hands now-a-days. Doesn't it ring the bell in your head. When love happens, you'd know. There are ways and hints that make you feel it. A mere attraction can't lead you to culminate your first or second or whatever. It's trashy to feel that such a beautiful emotion is being wasted on randomness.

P.S. I believe in love and I'll love someone someday. It'll last a lifetime.

Then there was light...Shuchi Saket Goswami!!

I can never thank my stars enough for showering me with this one person I'd stick to forever. She's life, she's light, she's exuberance, she's fun, she's a kid and she's my friend SHUCHI. For the one part of my life when I thought I'm left with no hope but to sulk and be stupid, she stepped in like a fairy Godmother asking me my wish with a shining magic wand in her hand. What could I have asked for but my smile back. She not only got me my smile back but my life back into my soul. Ever chance upon such a friend?
I've never mustered it in me to tell her this, I guess I should say this now==== I've always wanted to be like you, to be you. Wherever you go, people love you, they want to be around you 'cause of the beautiful person you are from within. I wish I could be like this sometime. Your name is on everybody's lips. Wish mine was too. Guess, I'm not made for this but you know what, I can still go around boasting about my buddie. Ever had this feeling, folks?
The strange way of taking care of me, the way you put things forth, the way you deal with problems, the way you live life- full & content, I've adopted it all. No, I know it'll be tough for you digesting all this 'cause you hate the melodrama so I'd be a bit honest about something here. DISCLAIMER: It was always the impatient and irritable me who acted like a nutcase. So, at times over the phone call, I just wanted to hang up for you used to act like this crazy woman yelling at me for something which was an outcome of my boredom or bugged up self. Or the times when you'd just call up forcing me to do something at odd times and I just didn't want to do but I had no options either. I wanted to tell you a straight NO but man! I couldn't dare! You know why, 'cause I knew you did all for my good and to make me happy. You helped me mature wisely, being at ease with myself. Well! I'm not too sure if I'm 100% mature or 100% wise.
There have been moments that I'd probably narrate to our kids. Moments of me bugging you to click me while on the rickshaw, moments of laughter, moments of sobs. You filled in that gap in my life when the space was getting way too out of my hands. I know, I'm talking too much and I should stop now but I can't just finish before saying that your husband is one helluva lucky man. He's got you!

P.S. I'm happy that my "was" didn't go a waste because it gave me you.
and if this is what we get when we are sad and lifeless, I'd like to pretend time and again that I'm sad ;)