A deerly written post.

The mind, as they say in Sanskrit (and Hindi), is like a deer (or some equally frisky animal). It keeps moving from one topic of interest to another. I managed to take a note of everything my mind touched upon in just one hour of English class on a particular Thursday afternoon. (Actually, this happens every Thursday afternoon in that particular English class...I've just given up trying to figure out what she is teaching.) 

So anyway, it amazed me to see that I was able to think in and out of a hundred various thoughts which were totally disconnected. 

The two incidences of multiple murders of old people in Jayanagar that occurred within a span of 5 days. I always thought of Jayanagar as the safest, non-controversial and greenest locality. Looks like the first adjective has to be knocked off. The next two seem to be on their way out as well, what with the Metro prying its way into Rose Garden Road. 

Ms. Malathi Holla. What a remarkable woman, really. It wasn't just the way she drove all around Bangalore in her modified car (She is a wheelchair user, by the way) , but her attitude towards everything in life amazed me. It also made me squirm rather guiltily because I had just about decided that my world was coming to an end because I couldn't understand my Journalism project. 

Chaat on Clothes. Will I ever learn to eat like the English do? Or even the French? I almost attack my food in a barbaric way and my clothes decide that they want a bite as well. I always drop chaat on them. Never anything else. (but of course, nothing else matches up to the stains of chutney anyway.) 

Development Communication: Huh? What's that? 

Indian Politics: One amazing history it has. From the time Nehru, Patel and Gandhi together decided to take India by the reins and run it smoothly, till today, when Dr.Manmohan Singh is at AIIMS for a bypass surgery. It's like one long movie. Did you know that Laloo Prasad Yadav named his daughter Misa after the MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security) act? It was the time he shot to fame in the political scenario. 

Slumdog Millionaire: My English lecturer slammed it by saying that it rose to fame only because it fit the Occidental perspective of Inida. The audiences lapped it up and poverty was glamorised to a large extent while the vast middle class population of India, the true heroes, was blatantly left out. I will have to satisfy myself with that opinion until I watch the movie. 

Indian Of The Year: For the first time, the Indian of the Year awards by NDTV made complete sense. (I have my doubts about a certain category but that is not too relevant here). Really, the unsung heroes of Mumbai, including the staff of Taj and Oberoi were given standing ovations as they received awards. I don't think there was a dry eye anywhere, including in my living room, especially when Karanbir Kang spoke. 

The Presidential Ceremony: Schoolchildren in Delhi were cheering for President Obama on his big day. Do these school children even know the name of our President? Can they be blamed really for not wanting to know? 

A's wedding: This is one event that has been coming and going out of my mind for the past several days. A's married now, and it's been a week! She's all wife-y and everything and here we are, trying to understand Developmental Communication. No complaints though. Given the time, place and situation, I'd rather be cramming up pages of theories and approaches to Dev Comm. 

Histrionic Personality Disorder: I've diagnosed a participant on a very popular reality show to have this disorder. She fits into every single criterion for diagnosis. Now I have to somehow convince parents that watching this mindless show can actually help me further my prospects in the career. 

See? If one calls the Mind a deer (or some equally frisky animal) then mine sure did a lot of exercise that day. Sigh. If only I was as active as my mind. I wouldn't have had to replace Dairy Milk bar with Granola Bar (which are available in India, thanks to the LPG model by Dr.Manmohan Singh, I hope he gets well soon. He's one politician who has appeared in my class X textbook and is still living to tell the tale, albeit slightly monotonous.)  By the way, dont you think Abhinav Bindra and Dev Patel resemble? (See? there my deer goes again!) 

Change! – be warned- it’s nothing short of a full blown rant

Ok. The oh-it’s-a-new-year-so-i-have-to-make-drastic-lifestyle-changes-in-the-form-of-resolutions-that-are-never-met phase is over. While the world (and some friends in particular) implores me to Change! Change for the better! Be cooler and more conformist to the society’s vision of being cool! , I have chosen to go on and live like how I did in 2008. All you hear in the first few months of any New Year is Change (and I am not referring to President Obama’s campaign rally). People almost want to erase their follies in the past year and start on a crisp new page. So I encountered various friends these weeks who made me think about ‘Change’ and it’s importance in my life.

 Anyway, my first encounter was a call from a friend. Or so they’re called these days. It was someone who met me, decided I was not good enough to hang out in their company, and just returned a call of formality. Reason? Maybe I’ve changed. Maybe they’ve changed. Maybe one of us has changed we’re incompatible as the friends we used to be.

 Another encounter with friends (although this one was wa-hay nicer) changed my ideas of incompatibility. We met, we laughed, we goofed around and we talked ‘twenty’ to a dozen. I realized that we’ve not really changed at all. We’ve known one another almost forever and I guess that’s what made the difference. No matter how much I change, it wont make an iota of difference in our relationships – we know each other beyond concepts of Change and fitting with the ‘In’ group. Sure, our tastes will change in food, clothes and movies. But our tastes in friendship will not change because we’ve matured beyond frivolous things like that.

 Then came an unexpected day out with college pals. We headed out on our bikes, buses and autos to give out invitations for a seminar. That part of the outing occupied about one-fiftieth of our time. We decided on lunch instead of attending English Class and trooped into a restaurant. We became the objects of observation for the entire place as we laughed and held sizzling brownie sundae eating competitions. We didn’t need to change and look all ‘Sophisticated’ because that’s what ‘everyone’ does. Nor did we look like dehaatis who have never seen chocolate before. We looked like us. A bunch of self-assured, intelligent (in terms of the worldly ways dude!:-P), jovial girls don’t need to change just to be noticed.

 It’s really a complicated thing. Something that I will not blather on with. Expecting your friends to change just so that they can be your friend is not really the best way to describe friendship. If you’re my friend and have changed drastically, and expect me to do as well, then it’s not going to work. I just wish you behave normally with me or at least spare me the trouble of acting all plasticky with sugar-coated flattery thrown in. change is something one does to make oneself a better person from within, not to appear as a better person from the exterior.