Seeing Things

In both states certain Hindu mobs went on a mass rampage against non- Hindus in retaliation to a stray incident. In both cases, nobody really knew about the real cause of the stray incident. In both cases Hindu "mobs" were convinced about the cause and angered enough to systematically carry out attacks on non- Hindu groups for days. In both cases the government being able to do little to curb it. Both cases were called "spontaneous" reactions. I find it hard to believe that a spontaneous reaction could carry on for 5 days. In Gujarat, few years ago, a mass massacre of innocents was carried out simply for being Muslim. In Orissa innocent people are being subjugated just for being Christian. read about it here.

I have witnessed many Cat Vs Dog debates. Dogs are accused of requiring toilet-training/maintanance and praised for being man's loyal friend. Cats are accused of being cunning and selfish and praised for being beautiful, cuddly and clean. I am amongst those who loves them both. I have never really had any pets of my own. Except for the rather short-lived ventures with the odd street cat. Yet, they have an amazing calming effect on me. Whenever I find myslef in proximity to one, I find myself talking to them. Believe it or not, I really get the sense that they understand me and reply in their own way, much to my husband's amusement. I guess it's becasue they respond to tones. They can recognize a loving tone or an angry tone or a questioning tone and even a sad tone. Well, I think they do. Dogs and cats use their tails in opposite ways to communicate love and hate. A cat wagging its tail means it hates you. Its vise-versa with Dogs. Similary, Dogs hold their tails up to demo...

So far, I had seen 'complaining' as a good outlet. I thought you feel better about a situation once you have complained about it. But an interview I stumbled upon recently has made me decide to re-engineer myself a bit. Turns out I was wrong. When complaining becomes a habit, you end up becoming a sad person since you only see the worst side of everything. The surprising thing is that if you conciously make an effort to stop articulating your complaints, your mind stops creating them. You end up being happier - no matter what your circumstances are. You will be happier just the way things are . Don't believe it? Well, there's only one way to find out. Try it. Pastor Will Bowen, the man behind the idea, found that it takes 21 days to form a habit. So if you can hold-up not complaining for 21 days you get hooked to it! To make things easier he deviced the purple bracelet method . You could try it out with any bracelet, I'm sure. I am giving it a shot without any b...

We see numerous shampoo ads claiming they can eliminate dandruff. They talk of magic ingredients - lemon extracts, the famous ZPTO, mint etc that supposedly chase away dandruff. Victims of dandruff such as I, in blissfull dreams of an itch-free scalp, see ourselves succumb to the lure of these enticing dandruff-combating brands. One after the other, we try out the never-ending string of variants/options. But, I say, its high time someone got up and asked the question. "Is there really a cure for dandruff?" Why is it that you have to continously use anti-dandruff shampoo to keep dandruff at bay? I have not come across anyone who once had dandruff. If you have dandruff you always will have it. It also explains why shampoo brands invest so much in this segment. Infact. it is profitable for dandruff shampoo brands to keep dandruff alive. (Have I just cracked a freakonomics kind of case? Why anti-dandruff shampoos would rather not cure your dandruff? I know. Not a patch on the...

I often face opposition for my love of the series. And yet, my love for F.R.I.E.N.D.S only grows. I did not jump on the bandwagon that downloaded all the episodes to see them in one go like other fans did. I preferred to catch the episodes on TV whenever I could, considering my erratic schedules. I did not see all the episodes in the right order. But now, after 7 years of watching, I rarely come across an episode I haven’t seen. Whether I have seen it or not, I can't seem to tire of them. Watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S almost feels like spending time with your own friends. An episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S ensures an uplift of my mood like nothing else can just like time spent with friends does. Beneath all the comic situations, the series celebrates what friendship really is. The essence of 'friendship' can't be better captured than the way it is in the title song. Sometimes you want to hide away from the world. Sometimes you want to hate everything. Sometimes you want to sulk for ...