Jagah Dil Mein Honi Chahiye

Bitching- It's a term which is much abused, and looked down upon in large parts of our society. It's supposed to be something sinful, something that you should feel guilty about! This post is an attempt to explore this phenomenon. Statutory Warning: This post in no way purports to be a sociological or psychological article, the idea just came after an early morning office bitching session with a friend! So read on...

I am yet to meet anyone who doesn't like gossiping about other people, it's not possible cos such people do not exist. You might be a closet 'bitcher', but you certainly are one, trust me! So what exactly is this bitching, and is there something like 'good/harmless' bitching and 'bad/evil' bitching?

Did some basic research on the net- bitching is a slang for 'complaining or whining' about someone. Now, we all have problems with people or situations. We are not always in a position to do something about it due to various constraints- the person could have some power over us(say, Boss/teacher), the person could be someone whom you don't want to aggravate(a colleague), or maybe you are just someone who always wants to avoid a conflict. In such cases, whatever it was that made you uncomfortable, will keep building up inside you. You will keep fretting about it, but only in your own head. The pressure will keep going up, and one fine day, you will just take it all out on that person, with possibly, dire consequences for yourself and your relationship. Now consider the alternative scenario. You have a reason to complain, you bitch about it to a friend. The pressure is released from your system, much like that through a safety valve in a pressure cooker(btw, this is not original, the British used this theory to encourage the creation of the Indian National Congress in 1885)! So, what on earth is wrong with it???

I do agree that like all other things, there can be different dimensions to bitching. The above example was the good/harmless therapeutic kind. Another harmless kind of bitching is when two friends talk about some incident involving a third person. Again, it results in good fun for the 2 people, without harming the 3rd in any way. But the kind of bitching responsible for giving a bad name to the whole genre is one in which you bad-mouth a person behind his/her back with a specific objective- to reposition(in a negative way) the person in the eyes of another, for either personal or professional reasons. I really can't(and don't want to) find any reasons/justification for this variety. It'll suffice to say that there are all kinds of people, and to each his own, as long as he's not messing around with my life!!!

Pray tell me, how can something that is in the basic intrinsic nature of all humans, which provides us with so much pleasure, which is such an amazing de-stresser, be a sin??? Can the very benefits of bitching be responsible for it being considered sinful(sex and chocolate being two other such examples)? I have no answers. But anyways, it hardly makes any difference if it's a a sin or not. We shall bitch on the beaches, we shall bitch on the landing grounds, we shall bitch in the fields and in the fields and in the streets... we shall never surrender!!!

I vividly remember the day you were born. Still brings back painful memories:-) I was in office when I cameto know that Bhabhi had given birth to a bonny girl. In the evening, just outside the hospital, I, in my excitement, missed my footing on the road divider, resulting in a broken foot! Happy Birday Purva! Two months of painful limping followed, but don't worry, I forgave you long ago for this :-)

Never really saw you grow up. When I left Delhi, you were just 1.5 years old, hardly speaking anything except basic words, and hadn't even started walking. So, I missed your first steps, missed your first 'grammaticaly correct' sentence, missed your first day in pre-school, missed your first day in a proper school, and missed all your last 4 birthdays, including this one.

Your demands also kept changing from year to year. When I was in Nagpur, you used to demand oranges when I came to Delhi. When I was in Bangalore, you asked me for a doll. Then, for the last year or so, you have simply been asking me to get you a chachi!

You turn 5 today. In another couple of years, you will be surfing the net('tis a futuristic tech-savvy generation, unlike your Chachu's). And hopefully, you will visit my blog and read this post in the archives. Just want you to know that even though I've hardly spent any time with you, it has in no way reduced my love for you. Your smallest wish is still my command, and I will keep pampering you whenever I get the opportunity. Guess it is another long-distance relationship both of us better get used to! Wish you a very happy and rocking birthday. May the Force be with you, forever!

Feel like writing, but as usual, have started writing without having a clue as to what I am going to write on. Was having a casual discussion with a couple of friends in office. The subject- how easy or difficult it is to create a quotable quote. I was of the firm opinion that these life related gyaan waale quotes can be made by anyone, anytime. Kunal got senti and started disputing it. So, out of sheer stupid bravado, I asked him to give me 4 random words, using which I would make a quote.

The bet was on. The 'basket' gave me these 4 words: Films, Monkeys, Jaguar, Laughing'. And this is what yours truly came up with:

"Watching films helps humans evolve
like from monkeys to man,
Similarly, what differentiates men from jaguars,
is their ability of laughing to relieve stress"

I obviously am no Wordsworth!

But this whole stunt was inspired by Amir Khusro, one of the greatest poets in Hindi language. The 4 words given to him were: Kheer, Charkha, Kutta, and Dhol. This is what the master came up with...

"Kheer pakaayi jatan se,
Charkha diya jala,
aaya kutta kha gaya,
tu baithi dhol baja"

Sheer genius!!!

All right, show-off time. The worldwide release of the 4th edition of Harry Potter happens to be on November 18th, right? Well, I saw it last night at the premiere! Am so happy and excited.

Expectations from the movie were huge, especially since the book marks a gear-shift in terms of darkness, what with introduction to the 'Unforgivable Curses', the deadly Triwizards Tournament, the return of He-who-must-not-be-named, oh what the heck- Lord Voldermot and his loyal deatheaters, and the death of a student at Hogwarts!

The movie surely lived up to all my expectations. Director Mike Newell has done full justice to the book, by bringing to life the sheer magic and scale of Hogwarts, the tourney, the Yule Ball, the dragons, the Quidditch World Cup et al. The build-up is superb, and the climax mind-blowing. The only weak link is Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter- the guy can't act to save his life(which he often needs to!) But all-in-all a great adventure.

It will be unfair if I end this post without thanking my friend Divya, who not only arranged for the passes, but also ensured that we go and watch the movie, even though she herself had to drop out! May the Great Lord Budhha bless her!

Watched a different kind of play last night- Shakespeare's Measure For Measure, performed by complicite, a British theatre group. It was staged at Prithvi, as a part of the annual Prithvi Fest. The show was totally sold out, something that none of the 3 big Diwali releases of Bollywood could achieve! Anyways, got into the theatre, and the play started at 9.30ish. The only problem was, for the first 10 minutes, couldn't understand anything at all. Trying to decipher what the angrez log were saying in their heavy accents, in addition to the Bard's strange language(all right, I've commited another blasphemy, go on, sue me) was a full time task for my poor sleep deprived brain!

But things changed once the plot started developing. The accents started sounding ekdum apne jaisi, the language like sweet music- and the only reason was the amazing performance by the cast of the play. Everyone was so into the character that it was almost as if you were watching a real-life drama being played out in front of you. Angelo, the 'bad guy'- the puritan who is forced to surrender to his carnal desires, leading him on a self-destructive path; the nun whom Angelo is lusting after, who has to decide between her body and her brother's life; the brother who, out of sheer desperation to save his life, asks his sister to sleep with Angelo; and a host of other totally real characters brought to life by the vivid performances!

The play ended with a standing ovation of course, and while going back, we saw two of the lead actors in the play walking down to their hotel around a Km away, with school bags on their backs! Loverlllyyyy!!!

p.s. For those of you who have been following the development of my insomnia, some good news- have been able to catch around 5 hours sleep for the last two nights. Guess am on my way back to a normal life! Cheers!

Literally! Am damn scared, haven't slept a wink for the last two nights. Never had such a bad case of insomnia in my life. Am a zombie right now, working on auto-pilot. Would like nothing more than going home and hitting the sack right now, but kya karein, as the great Lord Budhha said, " Paapi pet ka sawaal hai." I've been wondering as to what could be the possible reasons? One normal reason is tension, but there has not been any undue upsurge in that department in the last couple of days to justify this condition! Haven't been drinking heavily and going to bed(which could be another reason)! Then what???

What is happening is that I lie down and my brain goes straight into overdrive and starts whizzing around the world. Basically a sort of hyperactivity of the brain! Don't know why it cannot do it's 'tourism thing' during the day, like normal brains! Was discussing this with a friend, and she suggested having warm milk just before going to bed. Will try this 'daadi ma ka nuskha' tonight, let's see what'll happen.

You might wonder ki insomnia is not something to be so scared of. I beg to differ. As I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, I'd watched Fight Club during the Diwali holidays. Anybody who's watched the movie will empathise with me I am sure. As another friend asked me today after I'd discussed this with him- "How do you know that I even exist, and am not a creation of your imagination?" Good point... one can never be sure!

Good night everyone, and I hope that it's a good night for me!

Saw the late night show of The Legend of Zorro yesterday. It's so hilariously pathetic that it's not even funny. Looked like a rehash of a lot of Hindi movies, especially Amitabh classics. There's a scene in which Zorro comes to the church and asks God soem questions- straight out of Deewar- Khush to bahut hoge tum aaj!!! Then there's a daaru pee(Hindi) ke galli mein padhe hue khud se baatein karne ka scene- Anthony Gonsalves anyone? There's even a scene in which Zorro's son, who is not aware of his mild-mannered father's true identity, asks him- "Have you ever fought with anyone in ur life?" Pls tell me how this was not a direct lift from 'Hum' where Govinda and Rajnikanth ask ex-Tiger the same question!!!

Anyways, no formula was left untouched, resulting in a mish-mash of a movie. Was hugely disappointed. Looks like ages since I saw a good English movie, the last few weeks have given us stuff like Red Eye, Flight Plan, and now Zorro. Am eagerly awaiting 'Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire', as well as 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe'. Hope to Gawd these two movies can save the 2nd half of 2005. Cheers to that!

Gawd, never thought i'd get tired of holidays. But this has been one crazy week. Had holidays on Tue, Wed, and Fri officially, and today I maaroed chhutti jlt. Have been sitting at home alone, vegetating, for the last 3 days(except for Diwali nite, when I went to a friend's place and binged). Everybody had told me, go home for Diwali, yahaan akela kya karega(all my friends have gone to their respective 'muluks'), but no, Mr. Bakhshi knows best. Ab bhugto!!! But i guess vegetating has it's merits- have been making good use of the time in my own way. Been catching up on my reading, finished off a couple of agatha christies, and a new SFF novel called The Lightening Thief, in addition to a Wodehouse and 2 Just Williams. Also caught a lot of tv, watched Hot Shots Part one and deux back 2 back on AXN, and Fight Club and U-Turn on DVD.

All in all, not too bad a deal. Of course would have loved some human company over these holidays, but then, u win some, lose some!