My letter to the insaaf called Rakhi Sawant

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Dear Rakhi, How are you doing? Last week again dragged you in a controversy that I know you didn't want to be a part of. You so wanted all your judgments to go down well but this time it definitely didn't, and the result was for everyone to see. Anyway Rakhi, I shall reserve my views on this for the later part of my letter. But first I must tell you how much I have been a fan of yours ever since your 'Pardesia yeh sach hai piya' that DJ Aqueel's remixed video (where you became a saucy nurse!) became a hit. And then, there was the Mika's kiss fiasco, which made you even a better hit on the celluloid. Thereafter there was no looking back for you. You - the Rakhi Sawant was made. You are very interesting Rakhi. Your so very out-spoken but pointless....

Reservation, please - for men are from Mars!

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I have been a regular Metro commuter for a while now and like everyone else, I, too, am euphoric by the DMRC's (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) decision to have coaches especially for women. What a sigh and what a relief it is! The platform floors now have sticky labels in pink and white (bang on the colour-combo DMRC!) written 'Women Only' and 'Keval Mahilaye' - pointing to the area from where women queue up for their special service. And once in there, you are in your own 'female zone' and can carry out a million feminine tasks. Certainly, not like Mumbai's local train where women are seen doing homely chores... (Yes, they do everything that they possibly can in women's only while they are taken from one corner of the city to another!) According to the DMRC's commuter survey, one-fourth of the total commuter strength of the....

Only if love is honoured

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The past few weeks have witnessed a string of honour killing cases, with a new twist in the cases surfacing almost everyday. From Haryana to the country's capital and from newspapers' front-pages to breaking news on hourly TV bulletins. Honour killing as we all understand it, is when a family member murders another member because it is assumed that s/he has brought disrespect or dishonour to the family. How do such killings bring honour to the family is something not understood. While watching Dibakar Banerjee's third title LSD this March, I had doubted his first segment that dealt with LOVE and honour killing (where the girl's family killed the eloped and married couple, with the father masterminding it) thinking that not many cases like this happen today and the mindset of people has transformed largely. Certainly, I was wrong. The months that followed have made this issue....

Only if love is honoured

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The past few weeks have witnessed a string of honour killing cases, with a new twist in the cases surfacing almost everyday. From Haryana to the country's capital and from newspapers' front-pages to breaking news on hourly TV bulletins. Honour killing as we all understand it, is when a family member murders another member because it is assumed that s/he has brought disrespect or dishonour to the family. How do such killings bring honour to the family is something not understood. While watching Dibakar Banerjee's third title LSD this March, I had doubted his first segment that dealt with LOVE and honour killing (where the girl's family killed the eloped and married couple, with the father masterminding it) thinking that not many cases like this happen today and the mindset of people has transformed largely. Certainly, I was wrong. The months that followed have made this issue....

Roshogolla in my mouth

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I don't have to mind my language... for if I speak in Bangla, I am possibly using the sweetest words ever produced on earth. Ever since a child, I was known to the fact that among all the languages in the world - Bengali (Bangla in Bengali) is the sweetest one and I am a part of the community that speaks Bengali as its mother tongue. The good old conviction became a reality just a few days ago; when an unofficial result flooded social networking sites claiming, that 'Bengali' is world's sweetest language. If hearsay is to be believed - UNESCO had conducted an online survey (which is still unofficial and the results are yet to be made official) a couple of months back - and 'Bengali' won the banner of being the sweetest language ever. While 'Spanish' and 'Dutch' were, the second and third sweetest....

Colour my name transparent

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'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist' is what Rizwan Khan, (the protagonist Shah Rukh Khan's character) keeps repeating throughout the film My Name Is Khan. Yes, watched the two-hour-and-forty minutes stretch this Thursday. Brilliant performances by all those involved... but the film was overall a bit too designed and predictable. Yet, there's one thing that really struck me and made me write this piece... Rizwan Khan wants to go to the US President to tell him that his last name is Khan and that all the Khans or the Muslims in this world are not terrorists. An answer to all the racial discrimination that Muslims and Indians are subjected to... Be it in US or Australia. I wondered if this can also be an answer to all our countrymen and their bias. Don't you think that even our native land is full....

(K)Not in third decade

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There are very few occurrences in life where a woman reveals her actual age... one of these is the time when the nuptial bells come ringing! As one matures, the add-on numbers to the age starts giving many a conspicuous thought...For the last three times I have been celebrating my 22nd birthday, (If only sums were this simple) guessing it would play its intended trick. Of course, such guesses don't go the proposed way. Like most career-oriented girls, I too never pondered on the - right marriageable age... Little did I know that the thinking part is not just mine and my parents' headache but the seniors of the family and the closest relatives have a very central role to play. And they participate so well that you are bound to make a firm decision. A choice that is well thought and practical. Besides, if you....

All faces booked!

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Every time I walked by someone's desk my eyes would invariably be drawn to the detailed scanning of pictures, a sincere absorption in status-writing or a true involvement in Facebook (FB for the uninitiated) chatting. Seeing that every single soul around me was either an ardent FB user or a sure Internet retard - a general curiosity and of course, not wanting to be labelled with the latter tag, I started my Facebooking cruise with a zing exactly a year-and-a-half back. This was also the time when I entered the world of media and FB was introduced to me more as a professional tool than just a merger of friends. Initially, I found myself too over-loaded with baseless info. Do I really care if Mr. X has had a lovely breakfast/lunch/dinner? Or is no more in relationship with his girlfriend? Tons of such updates every hour of the day....