Me and You :)

Things I can Do after my MA...just in case I forget later on

1. Become an AOL teacher
2. Civil Services
3. MBA
4. Become a teacher in Dubai
5. Teach in a school while I do no. 2/ no. 3
6. Enrol in a Ph D and start teaching in a college alongside
7. Volunteer abroad and/or at home
8. Start and manage highly succesful business
9. Get married (Oh no no no no no!)
10. Get another degree which is not an MBA or a Doctrate
11. Join an activist group in India; Make Arundhati Roy my role model
12. Teach English in Dubai or China and lead a very fulfilling life there
13. Take cookery classes in the Brit Cuisine...Teach them ahem pasta and mashed potatoes, plus custard and sandwiches. Maybe some boiled veggies and chips. Lovely, innit?

Thats all I can think right now...Will keep editing as ideas keep popping in. Merci Beaucoup!

Volunteering Abroad

I was talking to my flatmate today and found out that she is going for a Volunteer Abroad program in October for 3 months. I was intrigued. It seems brilliant. Though you pay for travel and don't get paid for the work you do, but the experience sounds wonderful. It could be one of those life altering expriences which makes you see things in a different way. I looked up some websites and saw there were hundreds of volunteer abroad programs. I was thinking maybe I should do it since I have almost nothing to do after my degree. Or maybe too much to do. I don't know though if my parents will agree. Especially dad. He might not see the point in it at all. I can try nevertheless. I wish to be an AOL teacher soon though. That should give me a lot of opportunities of volunteering. And I might feel slightly wrong if I went volunteering abroad, when there is so much, so so much to be done at home. I don't know. I guess it's the best if I do both, for after all we are a one world family. Plus it will look absolutely superb on my cv. Haha. Well practicality counts too. Having said that, I feel bad that I had to explain myself on the CV part. Cvs do matter and if you want to make a change it is essential to have money along with intention and action. So yes it will be a great experience plus great on my cv. Also it builds character :)

Dinner Today

Today was a day full of lethargy and irritation for me. I woke up at 1 pm after 11 hours of sleep and then stayed in my room the whole day. I was feeling extremely frustrated and suffocated by about 9 pm. My head was beginning to hurt and the feeling of uselessness has climbed up to my forehead. I did not want to eat anything. I stood in the kitchen awhile and felt that no food seemed appealing today. I felt all food tasted like cardboard. It all seemed the same, bland, tasteless to me. I blamed it upon the poor quality tinned ingredients of England and then upon my cooking.

And then, I decided to venture out to Sainsbury to buy some new ingredients, to inspire me. So after having bought some tomatoes and yogurts I got out and saw a beggar....sitting right outside Sainsbury. I suddenly felt a pang. I put my hand in my shopping bag and took out one cup of yogurt and gave it to him. He was delighted to have the yogurt; he got a big grin on his face and couldn't stop thanking me. As I started walking home I couldn't believe that one pot of yogurt could make a man so happy. I couldn't believe that I was being such bourgeoisie arse with all of my- Oh! I can't bear my 3 course dinner, where there was this man who probably had no food at all. I couldn't reach home. I went back and saw he was asleep. I kept some other food next to him and left. When I was a little away I saw he kept the food in his bag. I was glad he will get something to eat, but alongside I was extremely sad. How can the world be full of unfed and unloved people? How can I be happy when there are others dying of starvation? I was cribbing about being away from home, and here was a man, who probably had no family. How are we to deal with such this worldwide epidemic of poverty? I don't know. I don't know if any efforts made will be enough. But the deeper question is - are we trying? Is the latest car or the even faster high speed internet going to help feed this man? Are we working towards the swaraj of these millions of underfed and underprivileged people? As Arundhati Roy says, is it fair that some people have so much, when so many have so little?

We need to get rid of our city eyes, acknowledge the bare truth and keep striving. For an ocean is made up of droplets, after all. I came home, made pasta and ate it with gratitude and awareness.

Hello!

Hi World!

This is me...Me who? Don't ask...Revealing identity makes one conscious of what will people think...And that generally places a damn on the river of free flowing thoughts. I can't be me... I feel pressurised to comply with standards, to fit perfectly in the frame of myself image. And I just want a space where I can let my thoughts be, release them and let them play with words, like lego blocks, and build whatever they like. It does not have to be meaningful or make sense, or be portraying my personality. I just want to release the thoughts which have infested my head. There are too many...Too much of the time...And I want this blog to work as my Dumbeldore's Pensieve basin...To find words most alike my thoughts and let them swim in there...Maybe I or a Harry like you will come back to look at them, but maybe not. It is fine...I wonder if this could have been a dairy...But I have done that far too much in my adolescent years....And diaries have a limiting effect of being a record of actions and feelings and not thoughts...I feel in love with so-and-so today...Such-and-such said this to me, I felt so bad....This space is more for musings, very random and arbitrary, but mostly from the head...Plus I am allowing myself the vanity of keeping it on the worldwide net, where people, strangers might chance upon it and read it and become undying fans of me...I might be the next big thing....But if that never happens, I can always say I never told anyone about this blog...Haha...So I have made a moat as well to keep my dignity (ego?) intact. So here, this is my pensieve. You are most welcome to swim in it as long as my thoughts don't bite/ drown/ suffocate you!

Being an Indian

When I was much younger, my father often encouraged me take up debating in school competitions. Though his attempt remained mostly unsuccessful at that, I do remember an anecdote of his till today, which is very important for my definition of being an Indian. 

When my father was in college, he took part in a Punjabi debate competition the topic for which was - 'Rabba main nai jana swargan'ch apne Punjab nu chad ke'. This literally translates as 'God I don’t want to leave my Punjab even for the heavens'. Well, as the competition began, speakers started coming and enumerating the good qualities of Punjab. Some spoke about its green fields, some about its strong men, some about economic prosperity and some about the vibrant culture. Nobody wanted to leave a Punjab so in its glory. Then came another student, ordinary like all others and said - Yes, Punjab is beautiful and bountiful. Yes, it is rich in its finances and culture. Yes, its strength of men and community is unrivalled. But, nevertheless today Punjab is riddled with corruption, greed and nepotism. Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant and so is crime and violence. Female foeticide and illiteracy are on a never before high. And till the time I don't set these things right, O Lord, I am not going to leave my Punjab even for your heavens.

For me this speaker was the only one who knew what is the true meaning of loyalty/ patriotism. It is very easy to belong to groups, communities or nations who are doing well. It does not take much to sell up everything and get a Canadian or British Passport. If you do that, then lovely; I am glad you know your priorities. But do not call yourself an Indian then. You may wear saris and kurtas, eath pranthas and drink lassi and be a sucker for bollywood but this makes no one more an Indian than Tony Blair or Madonna. Britain’s most popular food is Indian 'curry', how many Brits can be called Indian because of that? Bhangra is a worldwide hit. Everyone who dances on its tune is not Punjabi/ Indian. To be Indian is to know that for better or worse this is my country. I am made up its soil. Come what may, all my efforts go towards the progress and development of my country. If my country is doing well, I will glorify it and if it is not, I will set things right. To the armchair critic who can only sit and complain about the politicians and the bureaucracy, I can only repeat what our ex-Prez A P J Kalam had said- Don't ask what has your country given you, ask what have you given to your country! See the entire message - http://knol.google.com/k/tarun-kumar-jaiswal/dr-a-p-j-abdul-kalam/1btwx9eo0j9p3/9#

 

So today, after you have read this, do stand in front of the mirror, look into your own eyes and ask yourself- 

Am I actually an Indian or do I simply like Indianess? 

If your hair stands on its ends at the question and gooseflesh spreads, you will know what I mean and everything will illuminate itself then.