.....Just keep swimming (With a little help from my friends!)

I like to call myself an optimist. And mostly succeed in justifying the title. 'Glass half full, better luck next time, everything happens for a reason, just listen to a great song, but it smells great!' and many, many more are phrases you'll hear coming from me very often. And I do, really, truly believe in all of it! People who know me not so closely will always know me as 'that girl who's always smiling' but the ones closer are those who've seen the dark side. It does exist, yes. 


I've recently discovered, in the past year or so, that with optimism comes a certain sense of impracticality and recklessness which I'd learnt to accept about myself over the years. I mean who can be a realist and love the rains? Especially if you live in Delhi, there's more to hate about the season than there is to love. Coming back to the point, (*goes back up the paragraph to remind forgetful self*) I've always been slightly impractical and stuck to the belief that there is something good hidden in everything that happens to you. But this past year has brought days and even weeks of me finding it tough to stick to my guns. Like I said, only the poor, really close friends and family get to experience the ugliness of the dark side and are bombarded with depressing e-mails and texts, are subjected to phones not being answered and mostly are forced to spend time with (if they wish to) a terribly mopey, glum person. And nothing anyone says could get me out of those days, obviously, cos I'm usually the person saying those very things. I'm a really fun person when I'm happy. I bake, bring good music and awesome technology to people's lives and am just, in general, chirpy. (humility is obviously not one of my best virtues) Which is why most people around me are in a total mud-puddle when I'm bummed.


The reason I'm writing all of this random gyaan about myself, is because I'm a) trying to cheer myself up b) attempting to rekindle my love for blogging c) just need to vent to nobody and d) THERE IS AN UPSIDE! So, what I realized, 5 minutes ago, is that within this entire process I've also been able to sift my awesome, super-close, must-hold-on-to-till-life-ends friends from the friends-till-I'm-chirpy category. And that is a major upside for a person whose everyday happiness depends mostly on the people around her. 


And so, this is a shout-out (I don't usually like saying that but it is what it is) to my friends who called frantically, bombarded me with weirdo smileys, created pep-talks that would get through my thick head, were the calming voice on the phone, asked me to listen to 'raindrops keep falling on my head', sent me inspiring links, humored my randomness and just plain stuck around. I promise to send each one of you awesome cupcakes as soon as things get better, which I'm sure they will. (If you received a link to this blog in any form, congratulations! You will be invited to my wedding and be part of all of the good lists in my life.)


As for the rest, I have lists. And I keep grudges. Just you wait :P

23 Things to Do Before 23

I've recently been hearing, thinking and talking (A LOT!) about how I don't act my age. I'm 22 and don't really do the run-of-the-mill crazy things that others my age do. Some like to kid, that I was born a 35 year old. The issue is not that I regret being like this, it actually, really doesn't bother me. I like it this way :)

So, I'm turning 23 in 4 months and 10 days, and 23 is quite grown up! To make it a more fruitful birthday, than others (even though I love birthdays and the celebration(s) really need no substantiation) I've decided to make a list of things that I want to get done before my birthday. A list of 23, to be precise. They may not be your everyday, regular 22-yr old's resolutions. But, like I said, I'm not a regular 22-year old, hence the difference in priorities and modes of fun. Suggestions welcome, though :)

23 THINGS TO DO BEFORE 23

1. Visit a gorgeous beach

2. Read at least 10-15 books [that I've never read before]

3. Take lots of gorgeous pictures, and start a photo-blog.

4. Put my love for fashion, to use.

5. Start REALLY working out and lose weight by then.

6. Do a photo shoot with friends

7. Do something that is outside of my comfort zone.

8. Learn how to play the guitar

9. Start a scrapbook for my restaurant and have a tentative POA

10. Start investing

11. Give mom and dad at least 3 reasons to be super proud.

12. Pay more attention to myself

13. Hug my parents 1,000 times

14. Buy more pretty dresses and bags.

15. Watch classics (viz. The Godfather Movies)

16. Learn how to cook more stuff 

17. Volunteer at People for Animals

18. Dance A LOT

19. Start playing a sport

20. Have an awesome party (pre-birthday)

21. Make everyone I love, feel loved.

22. Go back to being an impractical present-giver

23. Dance and laugh. Everyday.

Cricket ka jod hai, tootega nahi!

Last night was an epic bright and shiny moment. For every single Indian, in every corner of the world. It was a celebration like no other, and one that bound us all together, into one huge ecstatic, delirious, hysterically happy bunch of people. Every time our national anthem is sung before a match, the country stands up in respect, and hope for a win. The hearts and souls of the country's men, women and children, are temporarily transferred into the bodies of those 11 men in the stadium. Cricket brings our country together, like nothing else can, or ever will.

I remember feeling super-patriotic, in tears really, while watching the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games last year. After all the scams, and mishaps, it was a proud, proud moment to be part of a country that put forward such a brilliant show. But this is just a whole new feeling. We live in epic times, a friend said. We do. April 2, 2011, will be one of those days we talk to our grandkids about.' Those were the days, people danced on streets, celebrities came out, and cricket wasn't just a sport', we'll say.

Someone tweeted, all of this started when a bengali man took his shirt off and waved at from the pavilion at Lords. That IS when it started. It's been a journey, that we're all so, so lucky to have been a part of. I spoke to cousins in London, who wanted to burst crackers but didn't have any, while experiencing a heart-felt Diwali, one with so much more spirit, passion and just pure happiness than the original festival. Spoke to friends who were in the middle of traffic jams in Bombay, and so, so, so happy to be.

I write this today, so that years later, I can relive this feeling that I'm dreading will go away soon, once Monday blues and Tuesday woes get the best of us. And I urge everyone who's reading this, to keep the love for the country, and that fire in our bellies alive so that we become capable of, if not recreating, trying to live a life that doesn't just make us, our families and friends proud but the country that we love and adore, proud too.

The Return of the Cynic

So I'm an out-and-out optimist, and have always opposed the forces of the-'the world's ending in 2010', 'what's the point, we'll all die anyway', 'there's no such thing as love', type of conversation. I like to look at the up-side, it helps keep me going. What struck me today was, that even though we're evolving to become a world that's super-connected, solution-oriented and mostly sorted (at least at the surface), pop-culture (only talking about films today) suggests that we're becoming more and more cynical by the day.


Bollywood, is a perfect example of our mammoth cynicism. For example, Biwi No. 1 (1999) was a movie about infidelity. For the uninitiated (shameful!) Salman Khan plays the role of an unfaithful husband who has an affair with a supermodel (Sushmita Sen) because his wife (Karisma Kapoo/ur) is too involved with the family. Cut to 7 years later, and there's Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, another film about infidelity. I'd rather not explain the plot of the film, because even though it was a realistic movie, and was equally loved and hated, it was just so NOT what Bollywood is supposed to be. Family dramas, another beloved genre that has seen amazing successes like Hum Apke Hain Kaun and even K3G, have now become non-existent. Karan Johar has moved from happy-soppy (Kuch Kuch, K3G) to bummed-dumbed (We are Family (PUKE!), MNIK). The ugliness-spear didn't spare love stories either. Gone are the days when the girl's father, religion or another suitor played villians, it's all about confusion, identity crises (suicidal couples, even), and independence, now. Cases in point- Break Ke Baad, I Hate Luv Storys (that was not easy to type), Anjaana Anjaani and the likes. 


Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against realistic cinema. I'm all for it, really! I love a good, serious, meaningful film. Chak De, Swades, Rang De Basanti- all brilliant films. The idea is to take the audience to a different world, involve them in the character's problems and the solution and end with an ending that leaves them happy, optimistic, and somewhat inspired. There's enough sadness and ugliness in the world as it is. I prefer the Maine Pyar Kiya to the sequel with the 'kyun' in the middle. Also, I'm not a big slapstick comedy fan, either. I can't stand Akshay Kumar and don't even get me started on those 'multi-starrers'.

I'm a strong believer that it's the entertainment industry's responsibility to blind the sadness with the bright and shininess that only comes from dreamy, happy endings with gorgeous people. I would go into TV (from Hum Log to Hum Paanch to Balika Vadhu), but this may just get a little too long/dull/boringgg,

Some would argue that the industry gives people what they want. Maybe. But then Dabangg was the highest grosser last year, and was loved by people from all kinds of social strata and varied tastes in films. 3 Idiots, the second highest grosser, was also one of those inspiring, follow your own path-type movie. Why did people (I) love Band, Baaja, Baraat? 'Cos the thought of weddings and young kids following their dream and falling in love, automatically take you to another world. A happy, disconnected place where everything is new. (even though I was so happy that Ankushka didn't get pregnant after all the love-making. Some changes are good!) This movie deserves a separate post, though. So more on that later. The key point here being, people are looking for happiness, there just isn't enough of it available. And the bad stuff, is easier to spot and absorb.

The world's getting scarier, darker and more and more cynical everyday. If all of us take a pledge to blind the darkness, intimidate the scary and kill the cynic, I just think it'll make life simpler for everyone (no matter how little of 'life' we have left).