Promises

Promises are usually very hard to keep; but in the end, the promises we do keep are the ones that make us who we are.

The Price of an IITian

Looking for an IITian bridegroom? Well, the starting price is 20 L.

This is what one of my friends told me recently. Her parents are looking for a husband for her, and these are the market rates. It doesn't matter that the girl herself is an IITian, having just completed her dual degree course at IIT Kharagpur with me. Apparently, IITian girls are still not worth a dime. Makes me feel real glad that mine is gonna be a love marriage and S. and his family are such awsome people, so there is no question of dowry here. But then, I know I would have called off the marriage if this had not been the case.

I don't understand. You can forgive parents for being old fashioned, but what if a person from your own generation tells you that just because you also are an IITian, it doesn't mean that you are better than other girls. What the hell is wrong with us?

No, let me rephrase that. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH US?????

With this mentality, how is an IITian boy any different from a roadside whore, and his parents from pimps? At least, even those women do it to feed their bellies. Does an IITian not earn enough to support himself, his new wife, and his parents on his own? What, then, is the motivation to sell themselves this way?

The 'Forgettor'

I have been accused many times of forgetting my friends in my old place, as soon as I shift to a new location. My bf, soon to be h., says that. Recently my mom said it. I don't know how many times my 'forgotten' friends have said it. My Orkut scrapbook is full of scraps asking me when that last time was that I went online. Now, they have also stopped trying.


I wonder if it's true. Am I really a 'Forgetter'? Are there other people like me, people who 'forget'? And why do people 'forget'? Could it be part of a natural process of adjusting to a new surrounding, or mere cold-heartedness?

On Freedom of Speech

Some time ago, I was thinking about anti-Hindi vomit of Raj Thakeray, and others like him. My first reaction to such people is that they should be banned. Then I thought of this comment by Evelyn Beatrice Hall,"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Frankly, these people do have the right to vent out their feelings, even though I firmly believe that these feelings are artificially generated.

Then my thoughts turned to another issue - that of Mr. M.F.Hussain's paintings. Does Mr. Hussain have the right to paint nude portraits of other people's goddesses? And are these people justified in resorting to hooliganism to stop the paintings from being exhibited?

Tricky issue, but I will start my analysis with an analogy. Suppose Mr. Hussain had painted, not a Goddess, but a human girl. Let's say he had painted one of his friends' daughter in the nude, without her permission, but also without using her as a live model. That is to say, suppose he had imagined her in his mind this way and painted her, and given the painting the name of that girl. I hope I am making the situation amply clear.

So, in this case, would he have been justified in painting such a thing? Also, how should his friend have reacted upon knowing that such a picture of his daughter has been painted?

Freedom of speech is an important right guaranteed to us by our Constitution, and it is our duty to defend this right, for ourselves and for others. But this right should be exercised with the utmost responsibility. One should be empathetic while making such public statements. While Mr. Hussain has every right to paint what he painted, but as a human being and a fellow Indian, he should have refrained from doing such a thing. Similarly, the anger of the protesters is understandable and justified, but they also should have refrained from hooliganism to gain their end. Finally, the Thackerays of India should stop stoking the mob mentality and, even now, try to become the responsible leaders that India needs and deserves.

Freedom of Speech as a right is useless without responsible and mature citizens.