Shoes of Honour

Written on account of: The increasing number of shoe-shooters [public slappers are remembered too] whose numbers have been constantly snowballing these past few years.

Dedicated to: All those who have picked up their shoes atleast once in their life-time, to target on a living thing who/which spoke/did a few things, that a few noble creatures couldn’t tolerate.

Subject Matter: Throughout history, foot wears have always made their reason-to-fly very clear. Pure hatred. During elections, it is so common to see garlands everywhere, but very few know that for every 1000 garlands, there is a shoe. During the ritual, some shoes martyr, while some others remain as injured soldiers forever.

At Loggerheads -Current Affairs vs. History: During some rare moments, shoes become birds of anger. They caw to indicate their enemy of target [mainly politicians] to stop their blahs and blah-blahs. Well, shameless as some targets are- the emphasis of the shoe gets lost, as soon as its soil underneath dries up, while the shoe-shooter gets an exclusive 4-wall festival treatment, in some remote location- a day after the shoe throwing ceremony is over.

Well, let’s not discuss on the effects of the shoe which hurls through the wind and sacrifices its future to hit the criminal on the dais. But it is always a mystery trying to understand the true motive of the shoe shooter who raises his hands towards the historical moment. What will his mindset be, before the ‘product launch’? Will he be nervous to throw the shoe? Or will he be just too angry to think about it? Or is he well-prepared that he will throw the shoe no matter what, because he just wants to do it anyways?! [History + Statistics have proven together that it is always the men folk, who perform the shoe hurling ritual, as they deem themselves fit enough to hit/run/escape when they are chased in the crowd, compared to women aspirants.  Ofcourse some choose to stay and face the dire facial embellishments post-launch, while some others choose to remain the anonymous ‘star of the hatred crowd.’ But it really depends on the social upbringing of the shoe-shooter. (I can’t get more ridiculous than this!!!)]

While many shoes-of-honour have bestowed its grace on several individuals ranging from George W.Bush to Rahul Gandhi [the most recent joinee in the honour list], we do need to notice that the victims have always been popular personalities. The question is, what if we put the shooter and the victim in one room and make them ask ONE question to each other. What will the victim ask the shooter? What will the shooter ask the victim?

For a start, if the victim was a business man he might possibly ask: “Why didn’t you throw both the shoes together. As a receiver, I would have gained something apart from the physical pain and public damage. We both would have both had a Win-Win situation then.” (Duhh!)

Or if the shooter was a say, a philanthropist, he might say, “I gave you what I had, its upto you to use it or pass it on someone who you feel the same way I feel for you.”

Well, whatever the moral is, I have but one thing to say to you - the reader. “You have made 5 minutes of your lifetime, very meaningful, by reading my blog. Thank you.”

Facebook Vs Twitter

If I'm not wrong, a lot of us use both face book and twitter, most of them just for the heck of it, even though we don't use it regularly. Though I like face book a lot for its many features and techie applications updated every now and then, my vote is for Twitter. It's simple, direct and crisp. And I don't have to divert myself with games and stuff. Just regular talking and following people who I like and read subjects that are of my interest. Just cool.

Facebook - Brownie points

User friendly- Lots of features to distract ourselves- Good time pass- Can stalk others and get stalked in return.

Facebook Burnt Brownies 

Too much of noise- Too many things to try- Retailers on the side bar- Have to add friends even if you don't want to and then block them through privacy settings [especially happens with office colleagues]

Twitter- Brownie points

Minimal applications- No stories, just crisp messages [Twitter Blogs are for stories :)]- Follow who you like- No serious impersonation/ stalking.

Twitter Burnt Brownies

Boring classic designs- Nothing cool to flaunt- Picture quality too bad (page gets refreshed for every picture you click)

Whatever the ratings be, I personally think 'social media network' is an apt word for Twitter than Facebook, since we mostly use face book to keep in touch with our friends/colleagues who we meet sometime or somewhere who are not really strangers. But Twitter connects to the people who are strangers [popular figures are still strangers to us] but who relate to us through our field of interest.

 Twitter is truly a good social media network to get connected. :)

Muslim Faux pas

Almost tired of screaming from inside my scarf describing how difficult it is to be a Muslim [girl] and deal with the many "different looks" that people give everyday in my own hometown [in South India], I have started viewing things differently.

 What if I was on their side? Would I think and act the same way they do to me? Perhaps, yes. Because that is what people are trained to believe and think. But, isnt there a meaning to literacy? Doesnt literacy mean that people think individually.

Last evening, I had to go to the ATM. While I was on the phone with my mom, the security guard at the ATM thought I am wearing a hood in my head. He said, please remove your scarf before you enter the ATM room." I was flabbergasted. It took me a full minute to come back to senses. "Are you kidding me" was my first reaction. But how would he understand. He was just doing his job [but without attention to sensitivities].

  The guard needed another person to tell him that it was ok to allow me to enter the ATM because I was not covering my face. [!!] What?!!!

Anyway, this is just one small clip from my everyday confrontations. Doesn't sound like a big thing to many. But honestly, I have forwarded the scenes, where I had to lose my cool and had to give serious stern looks to predators of Muslims.

Point is, I don't understand why people feel so insecure with people who carry "religious accessories." We are just regular people with some "fanship for certain belief system" Why would a two liner belief system inside my head bother them to shed pearls of sweat inside their shirts?

Today's fashion - Ayishology series 2

In India, being fashionable means imitating the latest tinsel town actor. The hairstyle, clothing, accessories everything count. Not many find out if it really suits them or not. It is funny when some staunch fans look like serious clowns when they imitate their favorite actors, which they hardly understand. Maybe they need someone to show them a good mirror.

But it is simply hateful to see innocent school kids take movie actors as their role models. This is just nipping their uniqueness in the very budding stage. The blame is not on them but shared between the cruel media and ignorant parents.

       While the media is forced to make money by showcasing everything about movie actors who call themselves "stars," don't know in what context!!! {may be because they have too many makeup colors on them} But it is an upsetting thing when parents encourage their children by laughing and feeling proud about their kids imitating acting clowns. Wouldn't they want their children to be different?

And let's not forgive the media either, how many times except on national holidays, do we see impressive writers, entrepreneurs, sports icons or even teachers who come on media spotlight. If you need only beautiful people, why can't the media search for beautiful or handsome writers and some others...to feature? There are plenty... including the one writing this blog... Don't media heads have eyes to see...? A head is suppose to have eyes, doesn't it? Doesn't it?

Teens of today [Ayishology Series:1]

     Sad to see but most teens today don't have goals in life. I have a little sister who wants to become a teacher, so that she can keep talking in the class and then walk out after the bell rings. [Of course it would be fun to have a fun loving lovely teacher] but when it comes to facing the real world, teens in India lag motivation and guidance.
       Parents are too protective and fear to try anything that is new. "What if that spoils my child's innocence?" this is the popular question that rings in the minds of many parents. But the real fact is, teens get to know everything they need to know and need not know through friends and online world, given the fact that information is virtually everywhere with the help of internet today.
       By 16, most teens know what to do and what not to do, amongst peer pressure. The role of parents today, should not be about concealing things from their children but to open up channels that would help them be firm and make the right decision. Are parents listening..? God knows....

Now in India

After returning from the US, it is so hard to adjust with the indian way of thinking and acting. I am not trying to show off that I am a foreign return, but there is something so thorny about the indian ways. Many practices that are followed in India, are so raw and needs to be polished. I feel that the following are the biggest challenges that prevail in India.

• Corruption in politics.
• Male mentality about female behaviour. [Their over expectation that females should be 100% feminine, like getting scared, crying and feeling shy an' all that crap]
• Employee- employer relation.
• Corruption in police force. [If this one element is corrected, I strongly believe that India will be a safe country.

The Wise Think

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

Martin Luther King Jr.