Do You Mind?!

The other day I was going home in a rickshaw with a friend and at one time when we stopped at the signal, a man on a bike came up to the rickshaw wala and what followed was very absurd. The man on bike started off by saying,

"Piaray bhai, do you get money for putting that poster up on your vehicle or have you done it on your own?"

Now let me tell you here that the said poster was of one of the two popular competitors involved in the ongoing campaigns for the position of the next Prime Minister. And so the rickshaw wala says that he got Rs. 200 for it. And then Mr. Bike said,

"Why did you do something like that for only Rs. 200? You can go on selling your vehicle for a thing like that? I  don't know why people do that."

I looked at my friend and I had an expression that said "What the fuck!?" From what he said, it was clear that he was a supporter of the other party and also that the rickshaw wala didn't care for all this world's worth who asked him to put some poster up as long as he could get a few bucks for a harmless thing like that. That was the most absurd thing that Mr. Bike did. I mean, degrading some random person on the road when he clearly did not care about it? Do we live in a free country or what! It is fine when you are thrusting your personal views  on the people in your circle but poking strangers on the road? If you do not like a certain thing you see on a road, what right do you have to point it out? It is at this time when you want to say, 'Do You Mind?! I'm living a free life here!'

Another day a few weeks back, I was going on a rickshaw and was biting the skin around my nails. "You shouldn't bite nails you know, that's a bad habit." Yes, that was the rickshaw wala. First, that is pathetic why he was looking at the back from the mirror. Second, 'Do You Mind?! I will fucking do whatever I want. Who are you to point me out?

If you are thinking I'm being like this because I'm discriminating the rickshaw wala, you're wrong and I'm not being harsh in saying that people should mind their own business. He doesn't have the right to point out an unknown girl and I don't have to listen to some unknown person. Creepy!

Realizations Lately

I have been delaying this for a year now. Found it in my archives and I felt sadness.   

Do you ever wonder how transient the life of a human being is? That everything comes to an end sooner or later? That things and situations and events and people never remain the same? From the world history to our own significant/insignificant lives, countless examples can be found. Though the change you are going towards might prove fruitful for you but the pain of passing through the change is what makes everything unsure. Maybe ‘pain’ is a big word for most of the changes in life but there is something, reluctance, a fear, what-ifs etc.

Until now I think this is good, that maybe, just maybe, it will last. But then there are days when I think that there can be a hundred things which can happen to end this. A hundred possibilities. And who could stop them from happening and leaving me at the same place where I was before.

Do you ever wonder how easy or different human beings would be if there was no existence of feelings and emotions? I mean, everywhere we see, everything works on feelings and emotions. The thing that makes it difficult is the fact that we have to use the right ones at the right time and if not, that is where heartbreaks and low morale comes up, don’t you think?

LOL

These are some really funny images I have been saving for so long. I thought of putting them up here.

Books i Regretted Buying/Reading

The Hidden War

Okay, that was a judgmental error. From what I conferred from an overview of the back cover, I thought this book has accounts of a Russian soldier who was there during Soviet-Afghan War and got impressed by Afghans. I bought this book hastily thinking it will tell me more about Afghans and Talibans as this one of my favorite subjects. Turned out, this book is about a Russian soldier recollecting what hardships Soviet troops had to face in that hostile, far-away land. Now, I'm sure it would be an interesting read for someone interested in the subject but for me, probably it was the disappointment which made me put down this book to not take it up again for a long time or forever.

Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

I know what all the Twilight-haters must be thinking. How could I! :D Yes, people! I was a Twi-fan once. Guilty is charged. But i assure you I'm free from that disease now, recovered completely :D So i thought i have read all the four Twi-books, why not read this one as well. What made me curious was its name. I had read about Bree Tanner in one of the books where she was burned. From the book's name, i thought it would be something about how she stayed alive even after the fire somehow and her short life until she was found again and burnt. Instead, the book was about how she was turned into a vampire and her side of the story until her short vampire life was ended when she was burnt. It was just a ridiculous attempt by the author to cash her name and earn a little more with this book, a chapter, she says, lying in her archives. Overall, it was a uninteresting read.

The Forbidden Love

One of friend's say that I'm a feminist when we are arguing about men and women but i bought this book and liked reading Daughters of Arabia by Jean Sasson because Arab countries and Middle East are one of my favorite places and countries and cultures and not because i like to read feminist stuff (I don't because I'm not a feminist). I always want to know more about the Arab world. So the two reasons why i bought this particular book was first, i thought i will find a good love story in it, second, because i thought i might get to know more about Jordan.

Although it wasn't impressive from the start but i read it nevertheless as it is my strong belief that we shouldn't judge a book by reading only the first few pages. So i continued reading it and the story kept unfolding until there came a point where the author started getting blasphemous about how Islam does not do this and that. Though not much of a practicing Muslim, i have a strong, unshakable faith which does not allow me to tolerate blasphemy. It was at this time that i put this book down feeling disgusted, never to take up again.     

Message in a Bottle

I have one word statement for this, Same Old Same Old. Dear Mr. Sparks, an advice: it would be nice if you start writing stories which are not ALL THE SAME PROBABLY!!! The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, all are the same and I'm done reading this author. For a long time i liked watching movies based on his books but not anymore because they offer nothing new. If he were any good, i would have loved to read his other books too. The fact that it was a love story of a middle aged man and woman wasn't much help either.

So here it is. It's not like all the other so many books I've read were all exceptional, but these particular ones were a big no-no.

Protocol

I hate being stuck in the traffic.

Then again, who doesn't! It's like being stuck in the traffic is directly proportional to you getting late from work or university and/or a hot day. However, there is an exception to it.

I don't mind when I'm stuck in the traffic because the roads are closed for some minister or high ranking personnel to pass.

I don’t know why. All the traffic stopped strictly and the road is empty for a few minutes. Three security Pajero’s passes, a Honda, another security car and then you see a Mark II with black windows zooming past, another series of security cars, an ambulance and they are gone. I find the sight of that Mark II very fascinating. The protocol they get, important, authoritative, classy. I say that no matter how much of a corrupt and a lowly hypocrite is sitting in that car and no matter through what sinister means he has reached to this level (because that’s how we generally perceive our politicians to be, I’m not generalizing here), he has earned this protocol where general public is stopped from going on the same roads that Mark II has to pass.

So for a rank like that, i don't mind being the general public. I was talking about this with a friend and he said it’s because I have royal blood running through my veins and I laughed at that :-P I just think it’s fascinating somehow and fascinations doesn’t have to be reasonable :)

Lord of the Rings

Finally! I bought all three parts of Lord of the Rings. I had bought Hobbit years and years ago and I kept it that I will read it when I will have all three LTR books and I got late in buying until I could find it at some cheap rate :P My friends offered me that they can borrow the books from them but I have to own the books I read, hence I waited.

So now that I have bought it, let’s see when I will actually get to read it because I know how much of an amazing read these books will be and I also know that I will have those feelings in greater quantity which I had while watching these movies. Deep, dark, blue, depressing and having-you-bite-your-nails kinna feelings. There is also The Similirion which should be read before both of these. Let’s hope this thought doesn’t grow on me like the one that I have to read Hobbit and LTR together :P

P.S. The fact that I have a lot of unread books lying in my shelf waiting for me to read them, me buying new books quite frequently and me reading several books parallel and letting some stay unattended for long is no help :-)  

Story

Sorry if you can't read the text but this was too cute not to add in my blog