Cucumber City

HOW FAR ARE WE FROM RACISM, ACTUALLY???

I'm sure many of you watched the recent taping of the Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she asked him if the statements about race he was accused of saying were true. Statements like "If I'd known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish and Asians would buy my clothes, I WOULD NOT have made them so nice. I wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for upper class white people." His answer to Oprah was a simple "YES", where after she immediately asked him to leave her show. A suggestion! Don't buy your next shirt or perfume from Tommy Hilfiger. Let him get what he asked for. Let's not buy his clothes, let's put him in a financial state where he himself will not be able to afford the ridiculous prices he puts on his clothes. BOYCOTT. PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW. If we are small, then send it to the whole community and see the result. We have to see the result of unity.

This was a forwarded message I got on Orkut.

Now, personally, I think racism is rather delicate an issue. Some people use it for gain, some for contempt and some merely for the pleasure of superiority. We all saw how Ms Shilpa Shetty scored (rather high, that too) on the Big Brother show, thanks to those racist remarks she 'suffered-without-complaint' from fellow competitors. And finally who won? She did. And not just marginally, but with a good 63% votes in her favour! So what's the verdict here? Didn't racism move in her favour, gifting her 1,00,000 pounds?? I am not, by any chance, favouring Tommy Hilfiger, but I guess, we ought to at least hand it over to him for being outright honest…that too in a show which would be aired the world over! But I'd say that I think the racism angle to things pop up more or less ONLY when there is a celebrity involved. Ever thought about the hundreds of students or employees who suffer this when they migrate to various other nations for their higher studies or job prospects? Why doesn't that ever come up in the media?? Why don't the respective Governments hold discussions on that?? Why doesn't such issues move or aggravate the public, while a crass reality show involving a Ms Shetty or a Tommy Hilfiger does???

Why say more? Just take a household scenario in our own nation. Most of us, who can afford it, have a servant at home, who belongs to some sub-caste or the other. Unarguably, we all show some sort of revulsion to them. If not in all matters, surely in many that would require more than 5 fingers to count it on. Most often than not, the lady-of-the-house keeps apart a plate and glass for the servant's use. Now how many of them would entertain their kid using that plate to eat from? The word we are looking for is NONE! No, its not 'good culture' to use a plate or glass 'which the servant uses'. So, what's the dig here? Wouldn't a PRIL dish-wash bar cleanse the plate off any bacteria? Yes it would, but obviously, it's not the bacteria that matters here, is it? It's that feeling of 'caste difference' (and occupational status???) that prevents us from using it. Ok, so this isn't exactly racism, its just casteism. Ha! But isn't it still far away from being totally secular? So in effect, does racism and this differ much ?

My MOM : "Atleast on an auspicious day like this, why don't you wake up early and have a bath??"

This is one statement that rebukes me on the morning of every Shivrathri, Sri Krishna Jayanthi, the nine Navrathri days, Deepavali and the like. But never on a Christmas or Ramzan or Easter... So what exactly is the criterion for a day to be auspicious and good??

A bud that blooms into a flower, the dew drops that twinkle brighter than diamonds when struck by the first rays of the sun before they melt to give the leaves a bath, the chirp of the birds that greet our ears before the vehicles start honking, the yawn that deserts our face when the sun shooes it away with his rays, the refreshing aroma of th tea leaves that boil to make the water a golden brown...........are these not the beauty of what we call a 'day' ??

Doesn't every day dawn the same way? Or is it that on a so called 'auspicious' day, the sun rises from the West, birds sit tightlipped, flowers dont bloom and the rooster refuses to cock-a-doodle-do?? Ok, so maybe the same rooster doesn't wake us up everyday, but other than that, isn't every 'day' more or less the same, yet beautiful?
So coming back to my mom's questioning rebuke...what exactly makes a day 'auspicious'??

Actually, folks, (mom, you are included too) ........
IF YOU DON'T THINK EVERY DAY IS "GOOD", JUST TRY MISSING ONE !!

That day changed her life.
Literally.
She was the youngest in the family, but not a pampered, spoilt brat. Probably, the only one who used to pamper her was her brother. But that day made alterations in them all. The ‘little sister’ figure that she adorned was suddenly snatched away. The ‘big brother’ figure of her brother crumpled into non-existence. She, used to always being pampered by her brother, suddenly found life demanding her to switch roles. He became the ‘kid’ and she became the ‘one he looked up to’.

She would turn just 20 the following month. But the days that followed the D-day turned her into lot more than just 20. For a carefree person who never took life seriously, she was faced with a reality called ‘death’. For someone who gave little space in her life for emotions, she was caught up in a whirlpool of her brother’s emotions, not to mention her own. For someone who thought friends were the best centres of fun & love, she was buried under an avalanche of guilt—that she never tried to find out her parents' love, that she never bothered to give them much. For someone who never cared about the importance of relationships, she shuddered under its magnitude on each human being.

Taking care of a 23-year-old who behaves like a 5-year-old is no joke. It’s demanding, it’s tough and it’s a big responsibility. The earlier ‘she’ would have moved aside for her mother in such a situation. But she took it in her own hands to care for him like her baby. She had a tough time figuring out the waves, rather the disturbing tides, which his memory loss had gifted him. She followed him everywhere to keep him out of trouble, she told him things that he could and couldn’t do, she coaxed him into having the foods that he pushed away and she made sure he wouldn’t know about the one who’d left them all, until the time was apt. She fought tears all day to avoid questions that might arise from his curious mind, but at night she sang lullabies for him and wept into her pillow.

An arts student in her final year graduate program, she sat day and night to teach him engineering papers, so that he may clear them all (and for that, she had to get a grasp of it first!). She went with him to his college and stood outside his exam room to give him the confidence he lacked due to his memory failure. For a person who used to sleep when the clock strikes 10, the nights began to remain ‘young’ even at the strike of 12! As the day finally arrived and he began asking about his past, she struggled to find strength in her voice while explaining that fateful night’s happenings. When he took in every word she said without any sorts of dithering, she sat amazed at how much he believed in her.

In return for her 3-4 months of total turmoil, she got a brother who now loved her all the more; a brother who saw the world through her eyes; a brother who would do absolutely anything for her; a brother who believed his life was a blessing so that he may love her; a brother who lamented that he never loved her this way before! She rejoiced. She was thankful that she was younger to him, because she felt he loved her like one may love a baby! She realised the value of ‘life’ in the light of the reality called ‘death’. She weaved in her father, mother, brother and herself into an envelope called “love”. Everyday she finds herself on a big heap of love all the time. Thankful to The Almighty for giving her a lovely family, she is still in doubt…even to this very day…

She thought it had been the most horrid day of her 20 years of existence…but was it?
In a sense it was; in a sense it was not, and it never shall be. This could be the perfect example for the phrase ‘every coin has two sides’!
On that day, she lost a very dear person. Someone as close to her as her brother. Someone whom she loved a lot. Someone who was totally endearing. In that sense, the day was the most horrid.
On that day, she got back someone who had been susceptible to the same fate as the above mentioned. Someone whom she loved a lot. Someone who loved her a lot. Someone who was actually her brother…………………… in that sense, would that day ever be a horrid one?

Are You Indian Enough To Read This???

A Malayalee would know the translated meaning of my blog title... CUCUMBER CITY... ‘Vellarikka Pattanam’... a city where idiots think anything is possible... ‘kuch bhi chaltha hai’.. And I was wondering... from the way things are going, isn’t it high time India is renamed as CUCUMBER CITY??? Absurd idea, isn’t it?? But it is feasible...in our country, at least...
Yesterday, I had gone to visit my granddad who had returned from Australia (regret to mention that he didnt bring me anything! rude, isn’t it? hehe..) And he was relating the differences between here and there... true...Australia is a much developed nation...not fair to compare, right?? But then... what on earth were we all up to all these 60 years since the GREAT GRAND INDEPENDENCE??
Anyway... after all that discussion, generally people would become gloomy at the sorry state we are in !! But I rather felt we are a funny lot...all of us Indians... Taking for Granted is our motto... and that is one motto we ardently stick to...

Ever noticed how we must strain to read the ‘Do Not Spit Here’ boards because of all the spit that is covering it?? Hehe...having to advertise such a board at a public place is shame enough...and to have to struggle to read it??? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we crib at the lack of ‘better’ facilities at public places but use the ones available as if its been provided individually for each of us and misuse it to a sorry state?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we frown at tho omnipresent spit on the road, wonder which ******* did it and then do the same because the sight makes us puke?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we all complain of the corrupt politicians and their horrid governance?? And then elect and re-elect them every time just so that the party we dislike don’t come to power?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we gape in awe at the beauty and cleanliness of the European countries and still strew our garbage everywhere around other than in the public garbage bins... and then swear at the Corporation about the stench?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we daily curse the pedestrians for walking ‘on the road’ and still jam park our cars and two-wheelers on the footpath, leaving them no other choice?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how organized, disciplined and full of civic sense we are when we reside in a Singapore or a Middle East nation or elsewhere, do not litter their surroundings, do not abuse fellow citizens and never try to get corrupted...but then inevitably do all this when we return to India?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we curse all the people who use public toilets and the stench they leave...and then leave without flushing out our contributions just because the previous user wasn’t sport enough to do that?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we scorn the poor law and order system, shower the officers with sarcasm... yet slip a couple of Gandhi heads into their pockets to ease ourselves out when booked for public wrong..like speeding, jumping the red light or smoking in public?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we pride ourselves on being a secular nation and yet find ourselves filling a column on our caste/religion in every single application available in th country?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how people abhor being referred to by the name of their low caste, yet doesnt mind being given priority based on that status when jobs or any selections are concerned; or how people enjoy being a high caste... yet hates it when they lose preference to the lower caste ones?? Atrocious!
Ever noticed how we always blame our fellow citizens, the government and even the rest of the whole wide world for the under-developed state of our nation, but always finds the excuse “I alone cant change the system” and continue to do nothing about it?? Atrocious!

Well, for that matter............. Ever noticed how people like me (and you) write up such huge articles, publish it, expect people to become enlightened but we ourselves never do anything about it?? Atrocious!

So then I guess I better stop...but hey people out there, the next time you offer a vote to our ‘Leaders’, ask them if they would consider replacing ‘India’ wid ‘Cucumber City’... hehe... I shall get some limelight then... what say??

By the way, dont drag me to court for offending the nation's name, all right?? I believe there is a mention of something like "freedom of expression" in our Constitution...studied it in Civics in Std 8...hehe...anyway, I was just using that...no offense, folks!!!

Be a Proud Indian...Help India Progress !! and then, enjoy life !!