Saturday, June 21, 2014

To hell with hypocrisy

I am bored of my job.... not that it is news anymore. 

I am bored to an extent that I dream of quitting the job and being a house wife.... and I won't be the nice, skilled housewife, who manages a clean, beautiful home and cooks yummy food. I will be the kind of housewife who sleeps till noon, wakes up, eats, reads, sleeps some more and nags her husband that he spends way too much time in the office.


And in that day dreaming of what I can do other than being a demanding housewife, I realized I can write...... For 'Mills and Boon'. I don't know if the company has changed their plots now, but, the ones that I have read have a certain defined pattern and I can do that!!! 

I can write cheezy ways of how the girl and the guy meet, how they were so attracted to each other and the usual M&B drama. And I will keep all my feminist ideas aside and the girl will invariably always be the damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued. Hero will save her from fire, wild animals, goons, aliens, vampires, any thing. I know I will be good... I have an alternate career option now... Yay!!!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

What a man can do

There are men who ruin you for other men. 

Men who get inside your mind and tell you how mean and cruel men can be. How they can't be trusted. Men who show you the extent of their depravity. Men who rape and murder 'Nirbhaya's. Men who molest children, sometimes their own. Men who kill their loved ones in the name of honor. Men who make you hate men. 
If the world was made of only such men, all women would begin hating all men...

But, then come the second kind, those who ruin you differently.

Men who are heroes, sometimes fictional, like Atticus Finch from 'To kill a mocking bird' or Rhett Butler in 'Gone with the wind' or Hank Rearden from 'Atlas Shrugged'. 

Mostly they are all flesh and blood, men you love, respect, trust and adore. Men you would listen to, not because they order, but because they are right. Men existing as fathers, husbands, uncles and friends....

Men who set things straight, the righteous and courageous ones. Men who are not afraid of truth. Men who are gentle yet tough. Men who who give the word "Man" a character, only they can. Men who make you demand and expect so much more from yourself and other men. Men who tell you what a man can achieve. Men who can frustrate you when others don't meet the standards set by them.

They may not know or claim this, but, they are the reason human race is still not extinct.
I love these men!!! 

Then there is paranoia

I have been used to living alone, since quite young. "No horror movies or serials allowed", was one of the more significant rules that could not be broken in our childhood. This along with our parent's absolute indifference to our cries on being sent to a dark room, ensured we weren't scared of dark either. Till we were in their custody, we were brave kids. Few horror movies watched away from their eyes and few nights spent with the lights on. But, then a bad memory helped and peace was restored soon.
So, unlike a lot of my friends, I am not really afraid of ghosts.

But, then recently there has been another bigger kind of fear... fear of humans. A fear that was unheard of in my childhood. A fear exaggerated by news of rapes and murders of unsuspecting females, shows like 'Crime Patrol' and 'Savdhaan India'. Shows that are designed to beware you of what all is possible, how low we humans can fall and how you need to keep your eyes and ears open. Somehow, the way it affects me is quite negative, especially when I am alone:
A stranger comes over to deliver a courier and I don't like it. I am not courteous enough to ask for water to drink, even if the temperature is 50 degrees outside. If he demands himself, I wonder if he will get inside as soon as I turn my back. Does he have an accomplice too? I should have looked around...
My new maid takes longer than usual to make a cup of tea and I suspect she may add something lethal. I used to be fast asleep, while the maids worked, now I am wide awake.
A stranger soothes a crying child in a TV show or book, and I wonder if the child is going to get sodomized or raped or sold to traffickers.

I agree that we are living in quite bad times. Crime against women and children in India is at an alarmingly high rate and increasing. You need to protect yourself and be safe rather than sorry.

But, does that mean so much of distrust on each other. Does that need to take away your humanity. So, much so that you are afraid to help anyone. It may be a plot for you to get into. Isn't it turning us all into utterly selfish people. Are we not getting reduced to a society of cowards?