and when the world turns poetic around, it feels like the end is near

stand

so I leave home tomorrow, to go find myself a house
in this big exciting? new city, to start work
to be responsible, to grow up, to wake up
and smell the stinky air.

to yawn loudly and upset the neighbours, if I find a house
to cook and not burn many south indian delicacies
to take late night cab rides
to use a quilt in 38degrees
to buy new green sunglasses, made of actual glass
to celebrate my 23rd birthday
to stalk shahrukhkhan or just eat bhel

I'm not too sure what to expect, so

Ancient Chinese Proverb #2

Expect little, get little - smile a sad knowing smile
Expect lots, get little - feel like a damned fool

what?

hum

while the cutie is away, the cats shall play
and then they get bored, they miss the cutie
they go "cutie, cutie, come back", sigh

they await the return of the cutie

hitch

So, where would you like to get off?

I don't know.

What do you mean?

You look pretty.

Thank you, um. Well, when will you know?

Your hair smells nice.

Yes, well, when will you know?

Know what?

Ok, please get out.

why?

You frighten me. Please go.

If I said no.. there isn't much you can do.

Please

no..

fun

What sounds like fun? Dancing the night away.
I don't mind, I'd like to try. Even if it isn't, it is still fun to say
I danced the night away

drama queen

my tears are not true
they simply make me pretty
I cry, sometimes I weep
but I do to make me pretty

my tears are as transparent as they are transparent
they are salty, make me pretty
hysterically I wail
but just to make me pretty

what can I say, my face now knows
crying suits me, so bring on the woes

And the Universe delivers

Well, here's a sense of satisfaction. Its been one of those weeks where the Universe decides that you're too slow for the hidden lessons of life and comes right out and teaches you a few things, like a big fat slap on the face would teach you to.. well a big fat slap might teach you just about anything.

See, the Universe usually goes -

let her learn patience from the sun which shines endlessly;
let her learn of generosity from the candle which burns to give light to others, while destroying itself; etc.

However, when you go on ignoring these subtle hints and valuable lessons long enough, things start getting clearer, more direct. You hear all these stories, see all these frighteningly real things - and a lot of the factors involved strike you as having a close resemblance to those arising out of some of your more undesirable characteristics - for example


let her learn that her hysterical behavior will cause her husband (if she ever marries) to leave her and take up tai chi classes in Guilin and her children (if she ever has any) to grow up as wife-beaters from her screaming aunt;
let her learn that if she talks about people behind their backs long enough she will have no one left to talk to from her ex-best friend; and so forth.

So, its been that sort of a week. No, I cannot list out what I've been taught in the espresso shots lesson time by the Universe. Suffice it to say, it was refreshing and well - timed.

Meet a relatively improved ME.

keys

1. Always, always, own your own set of keys;
2. Do Not hand out too many copies to lovers, to friends, to family or neighbours.
3. If you do Not follow No. 2 - do Not then complain about having anything stolen or broken.

disfigured recognition

Someone she held close to her heart had gotten erased from her memory. It might have been because she requested it to be done, or it might have been involuntary. Hardly the point seeing as the end result remains that she does not remember him, and therefore she will not know whether this was what she wanted or not.

So now he comes along in her reality and her dreams, and she does not recognise him. However, fate being ever so sadistic, leaves her with an uneasy sense of familiarity and sadness. She wonders what this sense could be. Being a romantic, she believes it to be love from another time.

She eventually kills herself, because whether it was love from another time or not, it was not love now and this shadow memory fate left her with only frightened her and caused her to weep.

She liked to believe she had control over her mind, when that turned out to be false, she took her own life; it was simply too confusing, too much of a bother to breathe to give life to a mind which had a life of its own, and then where was she?Her soul had been cut in half. It was done, it was a mess and all very confusing. Now shes no more, so lets leave it at that.

on sexual harassment

its tough to define exactly to what extent the actions/words of men can amount to sexual harassment of a woman. The same actions/words by a friend may be forgiven, but coming from someone else might still be harassment. Sometimes, if it does not quite amount to harassment, sadly, its the only thing you can term the horrible thing done/said to get any sort of response from an entirely incapable-of-understanding majority in society.

From personal experience, men seldom, if ever, understand what comprises sexual harassment unless its in a form which slaps you in the face. The anger hurt fear and shame a girl feels when it does happen to her, make it very hard to miss when it does happen. We had a lesson in our sociology course, a class which most people in my class couldn't quite follow, that it is very hard to chalk out the same idea of 'modesty' for every girl - it does differ - so when it comes to outraging a girl's modesty, its very hard to determine when it has been done and when not.

Anyway, I was talking about anger, hurt, fear and shame - very strong emotions - not always translating into strong actions by the girl concerned though. Sometimes, fear or shame is overpowering so we shut up. Sometimes the hurt is overpowering so we cry. And sometimes, the anger is overpowering and we react.

Now, Noone can judge when a girl who has been through such an episode, whether in your eyes it amounts to sexual harrassment or just harmless teasing, has anger, hurt, fear or shame overpowering her. Sometimes, women who have been raped only have the principal element of fear or shame and cannot file a complaint. Sometimes, what maybe construed as harmless teasing, over years of feeling helpless or turning ones back, can allow anger to be overpowering.

If she reacts, and you havent the slightest clue how it feels to be in a position where you feel the way she does then, you shut the hell up. You dont judge. You dont criticise. You dont support. You dont argue. You cannot begin to have the slightest clue, so you shut the hell up.

Its always easy to comment- shouldve complained, or in the other hand, she shouldve not made such a big deal out of something - its personal, complicated and beyond your understanding, whether youre a girl or a boy- honestly, you cannot ever know for sure, so you shut up.

oh happy day

Even though no shopping got done, today has been a good day.
An incredible feeling of satisfaction with life, myself and apple candy.
The trip from city to Shamirpet has never been this beautiful, window seat in the bus, the temple on the way never looked this serene, the weather was lovely and the smell of rain on earth my constant companion for the trip, the neat army houses with large verandahs and yards, the abandoned white building with the prettiest doorway, everything was beautiful, even at peace.
I have very few days left in this college, and I intend to enjoy my time here my way, which is suddenly brilliantly clear to me.