The Redundancy of the Arts

My teacher asked us what the most famous first line in literature was. All of us were stumped. She said it was "Call me Ishmael" from 'Moby Dick' and the second most famous line was from 'Pride and Prejudice'-“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” I was intrigued. I asked her why were these lines chosen, out of the vast selection of literature. Now it was her turn to be stumped. She did not know how to respond. I thought to myself, "No matter, I shall check it out on the trusty internet". But to my surprise, even that could not give me an answer. I decided to read 'Moby Dick'. And even then I could not fathom why it was one of the most famous lines. Even 'Pride and Prejudice', a book I've read a countless number of times. Why those lines? What did it signify? What made it so special? And the fact that a Literature professor could not answer that just goes to show how the arts are slowly dying.I'm saying this as a student of the Arts. How can we expect to survive if we don't change with the times? We cannot be studying the same works over and over again. There is no doubt that Faulkner, Melville, Chaucer and the like were all brilliant. But they were the past. That's where the Arts resides. In the past. Holding onto something that's no longer there. Yes, the past is important. But so are the present and the future. The subject of Literature refuses to regard anything contemporary as art. And that is what is their shortcoming. I guess a 100 years later, our works will be considered 'art'. But don't they see? Anything that represents the world as it is today, is ART. Whether it is a satirical tirade against Donald Trump, a stand-up comedian, a writer, a painter. It's all art. Jhumpa Lahiri (and so many others), with her words, paints a world so real, you can almost touch it. It's a world we recognize. It's the world we live in. And isn't that the world we should be studying? I'm not saying we should forget all the Greats. We shouldn't. But what context are we learning them in? How will we ever apply this in the real world? An interviewer doesn't care if you know the most famous first line. He wants to know if you can do the job. The Arts are a window to understanding the world in a way like no other. And if you truly understand the world you live in, there isn't a better candidate than you. It tells you the harsh reality, and yet gives you a ray of hope. It helps you see the beauty and the ugliness. The Arts has the potential to be the guideline to live one's life to the fullest. If only we could get our heads out of our asses. 

Where Do We Begin?

I was sitting in my political science class the other day and my teacher was talking about women and politics. She stated that no female politician in India had risen to the top without some connection to an influential man. Sonia Gandhi would not have entered the political arena had there not been so many deaths in her family. Mayawati wouldn't be a political force had it not been for Kanshi Ram. Also, the women haven't done much for women's rights. Another observation my teacher made is that, they haven't come to power out of a struggle or a movement. It wasn't like the suffragette movement in England. Women in India have never really gotten up and fought for anything as a United front. The Nirbhaya case brought us together and yet, we haven't achieved much.
The problem is, where do we even start? Do we fight for equal pay? Do we fight for safer streets? Do we fight so that future generations do not have to listen to,"Tum wahan gayi kyun?"(why did you go there?), when groped in public? Do we fight for the simple reason that we deserve to be treated as equals? Not metaphorically, not opportunistically, but truly. Where do we start?

Bidding Adieu and Saying Hello

It's officially my last day on earth as a teenager. Tomorrow I shall become an adult. A real life, walking, talking adult. Huh. That doesn't sound as frightening and ominous as I thought it would. So what did I do to commemorate this very sacred day? I studied. Quite mature of me, no? Perhaps premonitive of the years to come. It's been nice being a teenager.  Tantrums were considered rebellion, identity began to take shape, opinions were formed, friends were made, friends were lost, pimples were a constant enemy, so was a widening waistline. And as all good things come to an end, I bid my teenage years goodbye and say hello to my twenties. Here's to a whole new decade of establishing who I am; here's to a decade of actually acting my age; here's to a decade of falling in love (fingers crossed), here's to a decade of no childish temper tantrums (I will try my best), and finally, here's to the decade that I've been looking forward to since before I knew what it was like to grow up. Hello new friend, I hope we are good to each other. We are grown ups, are we not?

The Infinite Possibilities

I'm turning twenty in less than a month. Twenty! That feels so... Old, as a friend put it so eloquently! And yet I feel like I've barely lived. I've not even made a dent in my mental bucket list. At my age, James and Lily Potter were married, Harry was just around the corner and they were fighting the Dark Lord. Bella Swan (idiot that she is) married Edward Cullen at 18. Percy Jackson saved the world at 16; and again at 17. All I'm fighting, albeit half-heartedly, are pimples and an expanding waistline. I've done a decent job with the pimples though.
Twenty feels final. There's no turning back now. It's like an initiation into the adult world. You can't use the excuse of being a kid every time you make a mistake. The mistakes you make now could very well be permanent. But sadly, this is probably the decade you'll make most of your mistakes as well. I'll just comfort myself with the thought that everything happens for a reason. But honestly. Me, an adult? Really? Isn't an adult supposed to have, like, survival skills? And yet, here I am at the doorstep of the official club of adulthood, attending my first potluck and I've forgotten to bring what was asked of me. Can I get kicked out? How are we supposed to have it all figured out by now? Or at least, how do we appear to have it all figured out?
I feel like I'm standing at a crossroads. Conflicted, confused. Much like the poem 'The Road Not Taken'. Can't life be like maths or science? Where there's only one right answer? Why does it have to be like a subject of humanities-one with infinite answers?
And yet, I feel a sense of excitement that maybe now my life will truly begin. I will finally grow up (I don't have much of a choice, do I? :P). And, eventually, I will figure out how to deal with the Sun not shining on my life all the time. It shall be a beautiful adventure
Oh well, leaving you just as confused as I feel, yours truly,
Pallavi

Always..

Alan Rickman is one of my favourite actors. And not just because nobody could have played the role of Severus Snape better than he did. I loved his voice, his talent, his versatility, his intelligence, the fact that he fell in love, married and stayed with the same woman he met at 19. I loved the fact that when you watched him play the role of a villain, you couldn't imagine him as much else. And that's only until you watch him play a romantic role. He's Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensiblity, Hans Gruber from Die Hard, Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood. He's all these people and yet he has a quality that's solely his own. His phenomenal voice that can sound intelligent, sarcastic, sardonic, chilling, disapproving, mocking, comforting and kind all at once. His voice, once heard, is unforgettable. He may not have been the most traditionally handsome actor around town, but there was something undeniably appealing about his face and his smile. He was brilliant and he has immortalized himself not just as one of the characters he played but as Alan Rickman. He will be missed. Always.

Clear With Periodic Clouds

My phone, like all smartphones, gives me the forecast for the day. Today it said "clear with periodic clouds". I couldn't help but think that our lives too are very much like that. All of us have periods of distress and have experienced the calm before the storm or the horrific storms themselves. When you think about it, our lives can be explained in the form of a weather forecast. Take my day for example; mostly sunny with a few thunderclouds. It's a nice way of looking at life. A simple way-without all the riff-raff that we bother with.
I'd like the message on my gravestone to be along these lines. Somehow, when you look at life this way, it doesn't seem so complicated anymore. And therein lies our problem. We overcomplicate everything and then are shocked to find ourselves tangled in a filthy mess. Take it easy. We have only one life to live! Now, if only I could follow my own advice! Oh well, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Sappy, Lovesick Lines

While looking for some Disney clips for my mom's project, I found a song from 'Sleeping Beauty' called 'Once Upon a Dream'. The video shows Aurora dancing through the woods, singing about how she met the love of her life in a dream. And of course, as fate would have it, an actual prince shows up. Aurora, naturally, is a little wary. But then he tells her that they met in her dream. And of course, they dance together
Now, I know this scene was meant to evoke a smile on my face and perhaps an 'aww' as well. But all I could think was, "What a creep!". Anyone who actually uses that pickup line will probably get beaten up or be laughed at. Who says that to someone they just met? And Aurora. What's up with the naivety, girl? You don't talk to strangers for a reason. Especially not strangers who follow you around and then tell you that they are the one you were dreaming of. However much they look like Adonis.

But this is a fairytale. So it's alright. What about girls who actually fall for this shit? Some guy tells you some sappy, intense romantic line he probably googled and then forgets what he said a second later, and you start swooning?! Get a grip on yourselves. Why can't guys just stick to a regular introduction? And, if at all, add a compliment in there. Keep it simple. Keep it normal. Keep it sane. Frankly, if I heard something like this, I would be laughing my head off and whatever romantic interest the guy had in me would be diminished to nothingness.