Misunderstanding Can Be So Rewarding


As I attended the feminist theory class today I realized that I had been submitting some thing on a regular basis that was completely optional.I had killed myself to get those submissions in on time and now I see that it was just 'coooool' if I did not submit them. So I misunderstood. But it was so rewarding because now a part of my final paper is done. Actually I can just about not put in any more hours in it and it is still ready. But I am so excited that now I have ample time to play around with it a little bit. I can make it more challenging.

As I was walking past the Shriver Centre today I heard a familiar ringtone. My first reliance phone had that ring tone and within a fleeting moment memories raced up and down my mind, as if competing with each other for primary attention. None got it, but a collage of happy-sad-boring-too exciting-affluent-poor days in Munirka Village got framed in my mind !!! It just made me smile .....sounds and smells - little do they know what powers they have.

Heart VS Head : New Thoughts on an age old Debate.


In two days I have been told by 5 people that my blog is nice. I know it is just their love for me but well that is not bad. So instead of giving up on blog I think I shall continue.

I have an interesting thing to talk about. I was awtching Princess Diaries ( 2 ) and I hearJuliane Moore repeating the very cliched line to Anna Hathway " listen to you heart and not your head." Now- I have heard it in so many places. If one is an avid watcher of Hindi movies one has to hear this. Even Hollywood is not far behind in running these lines.

My question is " How does one know ?" I mean is it always possible to listen to one and distinguish it from the other. Is there some sort of an indication ? I really was confident about voices coming from my heart and those coming from my head a month back and suddenly I feel I cannot distinguish. What is even worse !! I do not recall how I used to make this distinction.

I recall vaguely a pang in the heart. But that is not indication enough. I shall use very different examples to illustrate my point and not those ones that usually are pefect situations for such dialogues to take place like calling your lover knowing fully well that the love is unreciprocated. The heart tells you to call and the head tells you that money can be wasted in better ways. My example is this one--Your heart gets tempted to take a double scoop of chocolate ice cream with more chocolate sauce when your head tells you that you are putting on way too much weight OR you do not have that extra 4 dollars. Whatever !!!

Whatever you decide to do in the end, you do it because ultimately it is your brain that sends out the request..bla bla bla....and either your hand reaches out for that second piece of heaven OR you keep eating that one scoop of ice cream. So even if the heart prompted the request, it has no powers of implementation. It is relying on its opponent fir such implementation.

So ..the point is there is nothing like " Dil ki sunna..." "Dil kabhi dhoka nahin deti "....What bakwaas !!!

If you think differently let me know...I am not an exhibitionist, so you do not have to necessarily comment here.It is delightful to hear that my blog is read. It does comes in bits and pieces.

PS - I did go to San Antonio. It did not rain. It was heavenly.

Scribbling Away !!



It has been an ideal holiday. I was looking forward to this and it has met my expectation to quite a degree which is not bad. I was first in Houston an now I am in Dallas. The best part is that i am not having to wear a sweater and a winter jacket. But did I have a problem with travelling with lot of things ? No way !! I am on a 11 dat trip and I am carrying luggage just about the amount i carried, whenj I came to US from India. Yes I know about the merits of travelling light but i did not know that greyhound makes you take off your luggage everytime you chnage a bus, In my case - 3 times. I also did not know that they take a stop at 2 am in some place and have a 2 hr layover there. Oh god !!!

But I should not complain. My sister tells me that she gets confused about why i am here ? To travel or study ? I would say I put in utmost effort to do the latter. What do you think makes me have huge bags ? Yes !! Books..lots of them and i have no clue now whne I shall even open them.

Next Monday this time I shall be on the greyhound again so i should not speak ill of it. I come from india and I have loved train and bus journeys. I have also enjoyed this one, in that sense. It was beautiful outside. In fact I got down at Louisville , KY and visited a beautiful cathedral there as well. That is my point, if there is a layover at some decent time one still might do something with it. Something fruitful.

Praying hard that it does not rain over the weekend because I plan to go to San Antonio.

What is more important in our lives ?

Time or money ?

I get a fresh set of 24 hours every day but I get paid only once a month.

Bapuji's Ba

I was seeing 'Gandhi', for the nth number of time now.I guess it is a trademark of all great movies and 'Gandhi' unerringly has it -- it should give any educated reader something new to think about everytime one watches it.I am referring this time to that scene between Gandhi and Kasturbha where Gandhi raised his hand on her on the issue of cleaning the toilets.In this particular scene Kasturbha come across as having much greater moral ascendancy than Gandhi.1. She reminds him sternly that she is his wife. 2.Shows no anger and tells him that he is human.3.Also tells him that what is more difficult than being good is the desire to become better than good.

Gandhi, for all you know must have got most of his inspiration from his wife. they got married at 13. Thus he had her with him, whne he was growing up, a luxury most partners don't have.He was just able to articulte his thoughts better and he was more ambitious for a free India than his wife.Living with a partner with such great moral standards may have made him the man we all know now as Gandhiji.Moral standards do not care for issues at which it is staked. They can be exhibited in the most mundane action of everyday life. Yet, such is their strength that they can also become a powerful weapon and leave an entire nation aspiring to grasp parts of it.Thus aspiring is very good.Difficult but not impossible.