Perils Of Reading An Incomplete Series

I wonder if authors realise the power they wield over their readers. Especially the ones who write a series. George R.R. Martin and Rick Riordan have been occupying my mind since the stress of my board results is over. I go completely crazy imagining the different things that could be in the book. My imagination runs wild and I concoct tales that make me question my sanity.

In 'The Fault In Our Stars', Augustus Waters, while talking about a book, says that when someone reads a book, it's like entering into an unspoken contract with the writer. It's the duty of the reader to read the book seriously and the duty of the author to complete the story. I think that holds completely true. I get that masterpieces can't be rushed. But give us a date at least. George R.R. Martin hasn't released the date of his next book and threatens to kill off one more beloved character if he's badgered too much. It's his fault that he writes such a compelling and brilliant series and then leaves the fate of most characters hanging. People like me are hankering for the tiniest piece of information we can get. I check for updates everyday, to no avail. Just a vague promise of 2015. There are 12 months! 365 days! Specify!!! 

I probably sound like a crazy person. Can't help it, I am one. Especially when I'm waiting for a book to come out. The number of stories I've made up. I think my mother should have had me tested. 

The Institution We Like To Call Marriage

I've just watched '2 States' for the second time. Who knew getting married can be so complicated? You have to be liked by the partner's parents and the both families have to like each other. What happened to just falling in love and living happily ever after?

It's hard enough finding the right partner, and to add to it, you have to find the right family? Staying single seems to be a much better prospect to me. In a wedding, it isn't two people getting married, it's two families. And I wonder if this is a quality unique to Indian families, but both parties seem to think they have one up on each other. It's not a competition for gods' sake. It's your kids getting married. They've decided to marry each other. It's about them. Not you. What a warped system this is. Looking at how complicated a wedding can be, who would even want to get married?

Marriage is a common topic of discussion in my house these days because apparently my sister has reached the 'marriageable' age. What does that even mean? Just because you're 23 or above doesn't mean you're ready to make that big a commitment. Ah, the perils of being an adult. Always having to worry about what to say, what not to say. It's easy being a kid. Even if you say something politically incorrect, people think it's cute.

Awaiting My Fate

With a little more than 24 hours to my results, my heart has already started beating faster. Fear of doing badly isn't something that is new to me. But it doesn't make it any less painful.

I feel like melting into a puddle on the floor, never to emerge until after the buzz of the results are over. 

I've never been a star student much to the chagrin of my mother, who is convinced that I just never pushed myself hard enough. While that is true, I never really wanted to push myself that hard, although I wanted to be top of the class. I'm a creature of contradictions, yes. My mind was much happier reminiscing about a book that I was reading, or a movie that I had watched recently rather than listening to what the teacher was saying to the class. The only class where I really paid attention was English. I've always loved the subject. Maybe because I've never found it hard. It gave me a license to dream. It gave me the freedom to imagine and believe. It still gives me joy to imagine that, perhaps, one day my stories would be taught in school. Although I hope I won't be cursed at as much as I heard my friends cursing at Shakespeare. 

I'd devote my attention to English, neglecting necessary subjects like Math and Accounts. As a result, I think my mom and sister were afraid I would flunk my board exams. We will just have to wait and see, won't we? 17th of May, 3 p.m isn't so far away. Fingers crossed!

Taking a Flight into Paradise.

So, I'm just back from Bhutan, known to be one of the happiest countries in the world. I've wanted to see Bhutan ever since I read Eric Weiner's 'Geography of Bliss', a travelogue tracing his travel to ten different countries, figuring out if and why they are happy. He said that Bhutan was happy because the people had accepted their mortality. They didn't fear death. They viewed it as a part of life. 

Bhutan, while a gorgeous country, is all the more gorgeous because of it's people. The Bhutanese are gentle and contented. They aren't longing for the latest brands or wanting to make a lot of money. They're just simple and happy.

To reach Bhutan, you have to fly in through the Himalayas and you have a glimpse of the Mount Everest and the Kanchenjunga, the highest and second highest peaks in the world. Its a little unnerving to fly so close to the majestic Himalayas and Eric Weiner's quote holds true, "Paradise, is not paradise, if you can take a taxi there". 

Bhutan is untouched, unscathed by the rest of the world. It's like an oasis in a desert. Wherever you go, you're surrounded by mountains, some lush and green and others,sparse and bare; both equally gorgeous and majestic. Living that close to nature gives one a different perspective on life. That's why I think the Bhutanese have got their priorities straight. They're healthy, they're happy and they're content.

I'm not quite satisfied with this post because it doesn't even begin to convey the magic of Bhutan. How can one put into words the smiles of the people? How does one begin to fathom their patience? Their easygoing nature? At a stupa, I was approached by an old man, who in slightly broken Hindi said namaste and said that it warmed his heart to see us in Bhutan and he too wished to come see India. I was almost ready to cry at this man's kind, heartfelt words. How much happier all of us would be if we just took a little time to say something nice to somebody. Everyone is so caught up in their own lives that they lose sight of what's important-being human. All it takes is a few kind words to put a smile on someone's face. The world is a selfish place. Bhutan has somehow managed to keep the selfishness at bay. It was wonderful to visit a country so generous with it's smiles and it's love.

Seeking a Connection.

So, there's this video that's being shared by everyone on Facebook. It's about how addicted our generation has gotten to social media and as a result we're missing out on opportunities that could change the course of our lives.

I wouldn't have known about it, if a friend hadn't asked me to go watch it. It's a beautiful video showing this man who is lost and asks this woman on the street for directions. As serendipity would have it, they fall in love and live happily ever after. And then they say none of this would have happened if the guy had been using GPS on his phone. The video asks you to look up at the world, instead of down at your phone.

While I was quite moved by the video, I couldn't understand why people were sharing it. Wasn't it the point of the video to stop people from doing that? To stop people from continuing to morph into automatons? I guess social media has become a part of us. It's consumed us. Look at me for that matter. I'm not half as vocal in person around most people. And I'm obsessed with Whatsapp. I remember when I was a kid, after school my sister and I spent our afternoons at our grandmother's house playing hide & seek, watering the garden, playing hopscotch and badminton (well, I tried to play badminton, but I was no good). Thinking of it makes me nostalgic and want to go back to that simpler, happier time. My mother constantly tells me of her childhood. How she never spent a moment inside unless she had to study. How she cycled to school. People seemed happier then. I guess social media, instead of making the world a smaller place has made people unable to interact with others or to form a bond.

All of us need to take a step back and give serious thought to this. Have we truly become slaves to technology? And if we have, why aren't we trying to do something about it? What all of us seek is connection. What most of us don't realise is that everyone else out there is seeking the same thing we are. Reach out. Connect. I think I should do the same. Otherwise I'd be a hypocrite.

The Prince and the Courtesan.

My sister visited the Golconda Fort's sound and light show yesterday. When she returned, she told me of a love story of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. The prince, Mohammad Qutb Quli Shah, fell in love with a courtesan named Bhagmati. Such stories generally end with the poor girl being killed or exiled somewhere. And the boy will be heartbroken. Surprisingly, this isn't the course the love story takes.

Obviously, the father was disapproving of the match initially. He'd want his son to marry royalty, not an ordinary girl that performed in his court. Mughal-e-Azam comes to mind.

But love overcame all odds and the star crossed lovers were united. Quite refreshing, isn't it? To hear a story like that? Where there is actually a happily ever after? You'd think such stories can be created only on the silver screen, but here we have this spectacle of undying love, that fought bravely and actually won the war. My family finds my obsession with love and love stories exasperatingly amusing. But never having been in love myself, I seem to have fallen in love with love. So, my fondness for Nicholas Sparks, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and other chick lits and chick flicks has become somehow ingrained in me. I enjoy looking at things with a romantic outlook. It makes it all the more beautiful. In the walls of palaces there are stories left untold. Stories of love, stories of feuds, stories of deceit. At least, I like to think so. Ah. If only I approached my math textbook with the same interest. I'd be brilliant.

What Once Was Ours.

Out of boredom, I've been reading about the heritage of Hyderabad. We're famous for our Charminar, our Nizam palaces, Golconda Fort and of course, our famous delicacy- biryani. Quite interesting our history is, actually.

Did you know, that the majority of the world famous diamonds came from Andhra Pradesh? More specifically, from The mines of Golconda? Turns out that people used to think that diamonds could be found only in the mines of Andhra Pradesh in India. The tragedy is, that none of these diamonds belong to their homeland anymore. All of them have been looted and stolen by Iran and Britain. The Koh-i-noor (mountain of light), Darya-e-nur (sea of light), the infamous Hope Diamond and several others. All of them now sit either in some museum, or in the crowns of the monarchs.

Last year, the UK Prime Minister visited Amritsar, in lieu of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, to pay his respects. On being bombarded by the press and others to return the Koh-i-noor diamond, he straight out refused. Saying it was "illogical". How could it be illogical to return something that was never theirs? They looted, they enslaved, they slaughtered. And they have the audacity to assume the diamond is now theirs?

These are the people who cut off the thumbs of the Muslim weavers and destroyed their looms so that the Indians would be forced to buy only products of the Industrial Revolution. These are the people who used the policy of Divide and Rule, so as to cause strife between the Hindus and the Muslims. They succeeded as well. Pakistan is proof of that.

200 years. 200 years of slavery. 200 years of abuse. 200 years of struggle. And when asked to return what they have stolen, they refuse? They say they don't believe in 'returnism'? David Cameron, the UK Prime minister, when making this statement also gave the example of the Elgin marbles, which they had taken from Athens and also refuse to return them to Greece. They believe that these masterpieces, these gorgeous drops of heaven, are better off there as they will be better looked after there.

Shouldn't India have some say in that? Don't we deserve at least that much? The British might have left India, but they left behind scars that have not faded. They plucked out the precious stones from the walls of the Taj Mahal, they were responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. General Dyer, nicknamed the Butcher of Amritsar, was actually praised by some. And that's not even a fraction of the tyranny our ancestors were subjected to. What they did to our country was unforgivable. It was cruel. At the very least, let them return what is ours.