SOCIAL NORMS

A lot of things we do are because of social norms. Kinda like, "What will the neighbours think?"

Why do we have to do things because our neighbours are going to say something? I don't even talk to my neighbours. The problem is that people always need some sort of gossip to talk about. If I came home with a boy, who could be my cousin for all they know, it would still turn out be the gossip of our neighbourhood..."Oh you know! She brought home a boy and they locked the doors!" Do you even realise how disturbing that is?!

If it's not that, it's something else. There's always something else. "Haan beta. You've finished your masters. Now time to get married uh?" Uh no. There's something called "a job." I didn't go abroad, work hard, have my dad invest in me so much, to just get married. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against marriage. It'll happen. Just not now. And not for the sake of making society happy.

It's even little things. Just the other day, my friend and I were talking about how if we don't attend a dinner that some family friend has invited us for, that's it. That's enough material for them to start - "She didn't even say hello and I personally called her and invited here!" No you didn't. You called my mother. Do you even know my number? -_-

Like seriously. Einstein was right - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, it's just an opposite reaction.

Disclaimer - not a personal attack at anyone. So don't go and speak around and say, "oh, she wrote a blog post about this and that. How could she?" -_-

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: but why bro?

What is ALS? "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and in the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death." For more information, click here.

Now that we know what ALS is, I shall rant about the viral challenge of pouring ice water over oneself.

I was against it at a certain point in time too. Exhibit A:

Shameless follow request here :D

Following the tweet, I observed and watched many challenges. There were a few that gave me quite the impression, such as Sonu Nigam, who actually took the effort to explain what ALS means in his own words. This got me thinking...there's so much hype about this challenge. When people do it, we don't know if they are donating money or not. But the famous folks surely must be.

According to the ALS website, the challenge has raised more than $41.8 million. So why are we complaining? The objective of the challenge has sort of been accomplished. There is enough money for research on the ALS to be carried out. So why the hate peeps?!

Sure, some people talk about how we're wasting water, and we should think about not doing so and just donate. But the fact that people have been pouring water over themselves (and going viral) is what made other people actually aware of the ALS. I wouldn't know what it is otherwise, frankly speaking.

I really don't know how to end this article...so...umm...yeah.

Oh yes! If you don't want to do the challenge, it's fine! Don't. I'm not gonna do it. But please, don't comment on others who are. You're doing your bit, and they're doing theirs. Not everything in the world is correct or moral. There are far worse things we can sit and complain about. But we choose not to. So let's choose the same with this and just umm...chill? (See what I did there? :D )

Don't hate. Appreciate. :-)

Peace!

Past and Present

The Past

1. Walking
2. Writing
3. Letters
4. Outdoor games
5. Long Distance Relationships
6. No "doing stuff" before marriage
7. In love only once
8. Eating a meal out once in a while
9. The thrill of going for a movie
10. Face to face conversations


The Present

1. Cars, Trains, Gyms, etc.
2. Typing
3. E-mails, chat, etc.
4. Video games
5. Break up
6. What's marriage?
7. In love a gazillion times
8. Eating a home cooked meal once in a while
9. Everything is available online these days
10. Facebook, Skype, etc.

Who said technology is better? Who said being practical is facing reality? The thrill of life was lived in the past. Today we're all just machines, abiding by society's rules. We are not who we are. We are what others want us to be. We have no identity because we are all one. You may think you are unique, but so is everyone else.

Technology may be efficient, but it has sucked out the human from us. It's sad I even have to blog about it, rather than talk about it with someone. 

Women should care

Rape cases, molestation and all these other cases regarding women are heard of in abundance these days. What's even more sad is that in today's world, people's way of thinking has not changed. For the society, it's always the man at fault. I am not saying that the woman is always at fault. No. But sometimes, it's better to analyse the situation and try to understand both points of views, rather than jumping to conclusions and immediately pointing fingers at the man.

(I will not quote any incidents here as it may create controversial thoughts. These are personal opinions.)

My mother has always taught me, "Whether the knife falls on the leaf or the leaf falls on the knife, it is always the leaf that will tear." The same way, whether the man abuses the woman or the woman abuses the man, it is the woman who will face the consequences.

One needs to understand the importance of the different standards of society today, especially in India. India is a huge country with a large population. This large population is sub-divided into different classes of society from the highest possible to the lowest possible. If you are a woman, sit and reflect upon this: If you wear the most inappropriate clothes and walk in front of an uneducated man or in an area that is not fully secure, with a few men who are drunk or tipsy, don't you think you will be attracting trouble? It's easy for you to immediately argue and protest with signs, "Don't tell us what to wear, tell them not to rape." Sure we could do that, but is it possible to say it to each and every man in India? To give you a better understanding, I will quote my mother's explanation.

Location: UB City, Bangalore
Photography By: Anupama Subramaniyam

"In a country like India, most of the people live together as a joint family. Therefore, it is rather difficult for the husband and wife to sleep together regularly. Especially in rural and smaller towns. Men need to satisfy themselves and do such stupid actions in order to just give themselves some satisfaction. And women dressing up the way they do in cities, and then walking around in areas where such attention isn't needed, just attracts the men even more."

Living in Bangalore, I can only give you examples from this city. If you had to wear a short skirt and a tube top and walk into UB City, I think you will be more than fine over there. The crowd is decent, the place is safe and the crowd is educated. If anything were to happen, there is security around to make sure things are settled down. If you had to wear the same clothes and walk a little down UB City into perhaps Majestic, where there is no security and the people are of lower standards, I am not saying that you will get harmed, but there are more possibilities of it happening.

Being a woman myself, I understand that we need to have the complete and total freedom to wear what we want and behave how we want to behave. But remember the leaf story; even if we don't do anything, we will get into trouble.