IMPORTED CULTURE - Valentines Day

Globalization, a concept that was introduced to get the nations bounded together economically has helped not only in the import and export of goods and services but of 'cultures' as well. We Indian's
are too fond of every thing that comes with a tag that reads:'IMPORTED'. We end up paying a huge sum of money on such goods and services blindly trusting on their quality and source.

Speaking about the 'imported culture' the most prominent element to be mentioned is the FESTIVALS rather DAYS. Father's day, Mother's day, Hallowen's day and the most controversial THE VALENTINE'S DAY.

The Valentine's Day has its origins in the European countries. The most talked about stories are the one When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Saint Valentine - a priest who served during the third century in Rome, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his Jailor's daughter-who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.

The 1st poem of Valentine by Charles was...

This month bright Phoebus enters Pisces,
The maids will have good store of kisses,
For always when the fun comes there,

Valentine's Day is drawing near,
And both the men and maids incline
To chuse them each a Valentine;
And if a man gets one he loves,
He gives her first a pair of gloves;
And, by the way, remember this,
To seal the favour with a kiss.

This kiss begets more love, and then
That love begets a kiss again,
Until this trade the man doth catch,
And then he doth propose the match,
The woman's willing, tho' she's shy,
She gives the man this soft reply,
"I'll not resolve one thing or other,
Until I first consult my mother."
When she says so, 'tis half a grant,
And may be taken for consent.

This Day of pure love was mistaken to be a day of 'show-off' or i would term it as the day of PDA - Public Display of Affection. Many Indian traditional minds consider it as a think it as vulgar , westernization of Indian culture on the other hand some say it is good as we people are becoming modernized .some say it is Definitely a curse on Indian tradition.It not only encourages stealthiness and also nurses a desire for unholy union of young mind and encourages rebellion attitude against their own kith and kin.I think it is purely
because of globalization that we are getting to know about these but it is not coming under the periphery of our tradition and our moral ethics. As a whole I can say that neither it is a bane nor a boon its just between the two, purely depend upon the personal thoughts . Because in western society people are very folksy. They are very much informal in the manner in which they dress themselves , but in India you will not find it so bold. Indian tradition is very feminine in nature i.e shy, introvert, formal, mannered, soft and warm.

Valentine day is a boon or bane completely depends on individual understanding. 
I would rather say, A Boon for those who have a valentine and a curse for those who don't have one.
Valentines Day, a baby of our Imported Culture.

Hear ME Here :)

WARNING : Hear it at your own RISK. 

A Girl Who Lost Her Way To Light... Part - 3

she rose up with all strength and tried moving ahead
but just on the count of 10 she collapsed down, as lifeless as dead.
weeping for help she cried out loud, "oh god!!! please end this night mare.
wake me up in my mommies warm arms of care."

her weeps, her breathes, her calls of griefs
echoed the place. An empty space.
just then, a bright light flashed taring apart from the sky
turned to a screen portraying  and image that made her heal a sigh.

she smiled when she saw her mom
but soon she panicked. she felt a throb.
the thing that made her restless was
she saw her sad, she heard her sob.

CONT.

The ‘ugly’ truth behind Matrimony sites!

I happened to spend some time with an old friend over the weekend. As we relived our college days and laughed over endless gossip, there was something very serious she had to share with me. She is 26 and like in any other household, the pressure of marriage was at its peak. When I asked her what was happening on wedding front, ‘MATRIMONY’ she said in frustration!

When her parents and nosy relatives failed to set her up with a boy, the only source left was matrimonial sites. So her parents signed her up for an online matchmaking site. ‘I was not irritated, hassled or embarrassed, even when I had to meet a guy to figure out if he was ‘my kind’, but these online portals can do nothing but make you lose faith in marriage’, she added. Wondering why?

 Here are the reasons.

1. Firstly, huge ads are used to show off how many people use the portal to find a soul mate. The models in the ad try to paint a picture like there can be nothing better in the world than a marriage through their site. But, yes, the only thing these models finally care about is their looks and the money they get for posing. Just not convincing enough!
2. There is a column called ‘our success couples’ which supposedly lists a bunch of couples who enjoy a successful marriage, thanks to the site (couldn’t laugh more). How do they arrive at these conclusions? And who exactly defines a successful marriage? Goof up number 2!
3. Third is the preference of caste. In the so-called process of ‘simplifying’ the groom or bride hunt, there are a zillion castes that these sites portray, enabling you to select your own and find your match in the same circle. Does that mean we will be happier if we marry within the caste or are they trying to convey they are against inter-caste marriages? They rather have professional subsections like IT, CA, Engineer than Brahmins, Punjabis and Bengalis….. Makes the hunt simpler!
4. And now, the icing on the cake! The requirements, sorry, the conditions our grooms have. Sample a few.
A.    Girl must be traditional, but outspoken. What does that mean? Is my grammar poor? Makes me wonder!
B.    Professionally qualified, not too fair, not too dark, medium height and weight, willing to move out of the city, modern and home loving! Wake up to reality men! This is for a life partner hunt, not a model for a Sunrise advertisement.
C.    Girl must be well trained in domestic responsibilities – A servant in short?

These are a few major highlights, bound to put off women who have registered on Matrimony sites, but YES, this is how marriage is SOLD! While this might sound like my friend is being judgmental, I’m pretty sure most women out there (at least to an extent) would happily agree to all that’s been said here.

Lastly, I am not advocating ALL marriages from Matrimony sites have similar stories, but YES there are such cases as well.

Share your Matrimony experiences in the column below.

A Girl Who Lost Her Way To Light... Part - 2

She lost her footings and skid down the dark tunnel,
Feeling the gravity's pull hard and strong.
She tried holding grip over its walls but it was too greasy with no hurdle.
Her yells, her screams, her calls of help did no good but with her it lurched along.

she quashed her teddy and surrendered the pull
too tired and exhausted fighting the irresistible force
it went from dark, darker to darkest. awaiting for her was something too dreadful.
she had now landed a place she could see nothing, there pitch darkness had arose

soon she banged on the ground, little bruised little hurt
chilled were her tears that rolling down her cheek
she felt the ground like the sands of desert
she gathered all courage to lift herself up, but her knee had turned too weak.

CONT.

A Girl Who Lost Her Way To Light...Part - 1

Flying with the morning cold breeze
her room's pale pink window curtains
She curdled herself tight in her bed as she freeze
when the world was rising up, birds tweeting at a distance.

Hearing it, rubbing her tiny eyes she woke up at the sunrise
yet to clear her sight to see the world bright.
She pulled out her feet from that cozy blanket to rest on the floor
she sat at the edge of the bed staring at her way to the door.

She grabbed her teddy in her little left arm
pushed herself off the bed to reach her ringing alarm.
She jumped off expecting to reach the floor few inches below
unaware of how deep that jump would land her in a dark hollow.

CONT.

My Dear Co-Author's Felicitation Ceremony ... :)

MPCC President Manikrao Thackery & MLC Charan Singh Sapra Felicitating Rohit Shetty

Rohit Shetty has recently made a Record and his name being entered into India Book Of Records and was felicitated for the same at the Grand Finale of the MULUND FESTIVAL 2012 on 24th December 2012 at Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund, Mumbai by MPCC President Manikrao Thackery & MLC Charan Singh Sapra and his name being entered into Mulund Book Of Records 2012.
 The Record being 400 poems written and being published in a series of Four books titled "Breaking Silence" Published by First Step Publishing in an single years time.

His list of achievements in the field of literary goes on some of which includes, his poem being published in the Congress Library US.


His List of published works include
1. Breaking Silence
2. Breaking Silence 2
3. Breaking Silence 3
4. Breaking Silence 4
5. Silent Voices
6. Colours
7. Minds at work

And currently working on Murdered To Moksha, a murder mystery fiction based novel deals with one of the most controversial topics which exists in this real world.

Chase your dream

Trouble arrives in miniatures,
and we stack it up real high.
until we're convinced,
we have no reason to try.
If you feel defeated,
you're absolutely wrong.
for if you chase your dream,
you could never lose for long.
The future holds great promise,
your destiny unknown.
but God is always helping,
and you're never alone.
Soar bravely toward your goal,
Let nothing darken the way.
You can change your tomorrow,
if you chase your dream today.

Nostalgic Memories

I still remember the day we met

all thanks to the internet.

You were a stranger,then a friend

and then just the world to me;

Life is so beautiful

through your eyes I could see.

You walked in my life

like a bright morning sun;

And filled my world

with happiness and fun.

You added beauty and fragrance

to each day I lived;

I was a bloom now and no more

a bud or an immature kid.

With all these sweet days

we had sour times too;

But our bond was so strong

that we walked them through.

Fight and fight,

and then we hugged so tight.

With every word war, we said

“good bye forever”

But soon came up with thousand reasons to get along,

Reasons that were kind but so clever.

But, today from where I stand;

I have no courage to come back

for another bang.

You and me;

we could have been best friends forever

that even you so well know;

But what I reaped is so not what I had sow.

I still remember the day when you said,

“together we just can’t go”.

You had good reason to part our way,

but I madly craved for you to stay.

You were right on your side

And I was right on mine;

But nothng could bridge the gap between us

As the desire to get along in our heart had died.

Wonderful times we spent together

will not return back ever;

But the lovely relation and the missing memories

will stay on our mind forever.

A Fight - From Frown To Smile.

"don't push me to the edge
when i would be forced to say a goodbye."
I heard you say this and my tears froze
like the dew drops in the winter sky.

"you sound sweeter when you scolding me."
I sense your love from your tone beyond your words.
silent you, i know what those thoughts in your mind would be
"insane is any fight when its with Giggles."

you were preoccupied with your worries
and the kid in me hated not getting your time.
i shoot you with all my quires
expecting your sweet words and my crap believes to unwind.

When i opened the fight i had this in my mind
to pinch you by tempering a goodbye.
but i laughed when to the same you inclined
"foolish we both with identical foolish cry"

the harder we fight
the stronger we always unite
with a heart of care
but words of swear.

may this be the ritual of any relation all the while
a fight - from a frown to a smile.

words of caution : Fights have been a healthy part of every relationship since ages. Acting as a strengthening agents to every true bond. No fight can break a relationship that is blessed by Lord and mend to be. The key is knowing how to resolve the fight without breaking up the relationship. Often it is the individual who knows how to communicate by sharing his feelings and not pointing fingers who can diffuse the situation. Since both are feeling equally defensive, it becomes a risky and sensitive venture. It may take a couple tries to fully resolve your differences but you will come out with a stronger friendship at the other end. This is no new thing. The dark period is to be faced by all.

Wish you a heavenly love luck ;)


 

Words Hurt Too

" I don't understand
the damage i do with these hands
hitting things to get rid of pain
freaking out, going insane

bed drenched in tears
heart filled with a million spears
your words destruct me piece by piece
feelings on a temporary lease

loosing all feeling in my hands
more hurtful words than i can stand
whats the amount i can bare
life turning into repeating scares.

Never thought you'd hurt me this way
just trying to make it through each day
you cant hear my screams anymore
you have no idea what you have in store”
 

On Your Wedding Day

My Favorite Click.

If you don't find me anywhere this is the place your hunt for me would end... on the old bench gazing at the bandra-worli sea link with headphones plugged-in listening to shankar mahadevan's breathless... my place of rejuvenation.

Girl !!!

High On Sugar

celebration in the air
party moods at the top gear
pulling out the best of your party wear
and some warmers for the winter-cold's care
when friends stocking in spirits like a bear
i sit and think hard in despair
if as a responsible person we compare
why have bitter drinks to share
music food juices sounds so nice and fair
booz, drugs, fag do set you on a wing chair
for that high moment you feel like a billionaire
but when it sets off pain and agony is all you have to bear
then why go the wrong way and make a deadly affair
rather end this 2012 and welcome 2013 will a heavenly prayer
cut your chocolate cakes, dig in your forks to its last creamy layer
celebrate with sweets no bitter and go high on sugar

New Year ?

its the second day of Jan
and the year has just began
all city parties are now packed up
to get off your hangover in your hand you have a dark coffee mug.
you still go around wishing everyone a happy new year
its time you peep out of your window to see and get your illusions clear.
polluted air, bad roads, quarreling neighbors, jam pack trains, loop-less mobile networks, empty piggy-banks, same old system
and to all this you being a valid citizen your no one to interfere
its all the same and nothing NEW in this YEAR.

When Your Valentine Rose Speaks...

You express your pain out loud …
But what about those who can’t ?

ROSE ,

" I give you fragrance, I give you beauty;
Spreading love in this world, I take it as my duty.
I am a symbol of love, passion, care.
I am the most precious gift
for every loving pair.
I left my soul back home with my mate;
To help you express your feelings to your date.
I am kept very safe as your love’s sign;
But that’s only till things are going fine.
I understand your heart’s hurt;
But why am I ripped apart?
Your culprit is your date,
What bad have I done to deserve your hate?
But, now that u have done it all
And down to the sand I fall
I’ll pray u gain your wish out of my pain."

make believe - happiness

A night drenched in darkness
no moon up in the sky
not even a single firefly
the world turned grey
empty roads, scary trees
dead oceans and voiceless breeze.

A night of horror,worries and fear
long lonely way with a dead end seen clear
tweet tweet tweet 1st tweet of the night
faith is the bird that feels the joys and
sings when the dawn is still out of sight

there came the golden sunshine
colors replaced the grey
fear got replaced by the feeling at ease,
it feels so jolly so divine

empty roads turned to busy street
the flowers blooming in green
for once who were scary tree
dead oceans are filled with blue
and breeze full of dew

just make believe all what you want
universe will reply to your every thought
happiness one feel and happiness one gives
for him, happiness multiplied universe has always brought.

TRUE LOVE

We fall in love every now n den but we rise in love only once n thats TRUE LOVE

 

We think we know what love is. We go through life falling in love with things, thoughts, ideals, beliefs, and people but we’re just fooling ourselves… We don’t actually ‘love’ those things or those people. We fall in love with every person that makes up feel special. There affection is love for us for few days but not long. The word LOVE will come in your heart only once in your life. Love is a once in a lifetime thing that we only experience once. All the other times we’re lying to ourselves. Though, that’s alright. We have to lie to ourselves. It’s the only way we can live life and as we lie we develop a personality. A personality that defines what we like, the way we behave, the things we like, dislike, all of that. However, there will come a time, and this I promise you, when you will meet that one person who will be the exception to your entire being. The way that person makes you feel is true love.

You can meet that person at any point. It could be now, in the future when you’re 30 or even on your death-bed. I can’t say when but I promise that you will find that person.

We all find true love in the end… till then KEEP LYING. For once it’s alright.

REMEMBERING v/s FORGETTING.

There was a time when remembering information was costly and time consuming, and forgetting was a natural part of human being. but then here comes the digital age. age of electronic devices. in the digital age opposite is true. in this age remembering things comes cheap, we call them floppy, disc, memory cards , pen-drives, etc. should i call it funny or strange that man trusts these metalic n plastic chips more than his grey cells, his own brain. cheap computer storage, powerful processors , internet has made remembering a norm- at a huge cost to all of us.
the hard stored digital information never goes away, even wen we wish it should. resulting in PERMANENCY OF PAST IN THE PRESENT.
consider dis : today on your computers you have retained tones of rough drafts, years of e-mail traffics, thousands of digital snap-shoots. WHY ? you need them? NO. By contrast deciding what to keep is costly n saving things is cheap. so just click SAVE.
today you curse facebooks,gmails,yahoo messnegers n many other chat sites that are by default saving all your conversations. though you delete them from inbox the next time u say HI to the person all the past chats appear again . lolz ... this is what you had wished for TECHNOLOGY.

MAN MADE MACHINES BUT DONT LEARN HOW TO CONTROL THEM.

BUT it was worth remembering the value of forgetting. forgetting permits us to transcend details and generalise  to see forest and not just a tree. " decaying leaves allow new growth" forgetting affords us a second chance to rise above all our past mistakes. forgetting teaches us the skill of forgiving too.

so friends... always remember the importance of forgetting .

Passion Turns Obsession

When does passion turn to obsession? May be when passion leads to fixations and dysfunction or may be to say passion turns to obsession is to make a distinction of degree. It implies that obsession is a negatively passionate form of passion. Too much of good always turns to be too bad. Thinking more about it you would realise passion and obsession do not really vary by any degree. They are the exact opposites. What makes this distinction confusing is that passion and obsession exhibit a very similar pattern of behaviour. It’s a thin line that separates them.

Still confused? Ok. Now let me put in into simpler lines rather than those philosophical statements.

Passion is a strong but a regular emotion for any activity/person/thing… whereas, obsession is when you are constantly pre-occupied with that activity/person/thing. It is just a feverish bondage by something which basically takes over your life and inhibits you from all the joy and regularity.
Passion is desire whereas obsession is a sin.
Passion – the major part of your life but doesn’t rule over. Instead, it facilitates all other aspects of your life by pumping you with constant adrenaline and happiness.
Obsession – steals everything else away from you, it gives you no fulfilment, no purpose, no pleasure, no satisfaction. It just sucks and sucks you until you are left is just a raving is hunger for whatever you’re obsessed with.
Passion comes from love and obsession just from lust.

Passion is when people admire you for it and obsession is when people abhor you for it.

We are all familiar with cautionary tales of people so consumed with their passion that they lose their social standings, meaningful relationships and ultimately their minds. Their social and professional life falls apart as their passion turns to obsession grips every waking hour, crowding everything else out.

Here are few of those famous tales you must have heard, read, seen or lived somewhere, someday in your walking life:

All work and no play made Joy a dull boy

Joy, a little boy was too passionate about chemistry. It was his favourite subject in school. Out of his craze for chemistry he had got his own chemistry lab in his bedroom. His parents too were very happy supporting him and fulfilling his demands for his passion. They dreamt big for him. He soon started conducting the most amazing experiments exploring all kind of permutations of chemical mixtures. When he was not in his lad he was devouring chemistry textbooks. People said he was passionate about chemistry, but they were wrong – he was obsessed. He was using chemistry as an escape from a very difficult childhood with his parents having no time for him, had no friends to play with, precisely stating, had no social life of his own.
But who was this Joy?

The Sensualist (a novella)– By Ruskin Bond

A novel well ahead of time, The Sensualist is the story of a man enslaved by his libido and spiralling towards self destruction. Gripping, erotic, even brutal, the book explores the demons that its protagonist must grapple with before he is able to come to terms with himself. In this powerful and bold account of the pleasure and perils that attend a young man’s coming of age. Ruskin bond displays his felicity in exploring the dark aspects of the human psyche. In simpler words the protagonist destroying his life by himself in the catch of his passion turned obsession. The obsession of intimacy.
 A compelling read, the sensualist was all exploded with controversies with the heavy words and harsh/rude writing style. Some reviewed the book as ridiculous while some said it’s the bitter fact of society. The sensualist appeared in serialised form in the debonair – A Mumbai magazine and consequently author was charged with obscenity. After a long trial and a much awaited acquittal, the popular author was freed from this unwanted mess.

Have you also recently met any such sensualist unlike Mr. Ruskin?

A God like Us

Brahma, the creator god in hindu mythology. But, Hinduism makes no provisions for any major rituals or festivals or traditions or aspects with brahma as the focal point. So why is it so? What makes brahma, the creator, unworthy of worship? The problem here lies more with the question than the answer.
The world being referred to in Hinduism when referring to brahma is not the objective world but the subjective world of thoughts and feelings. Braham  creates these worlds through desire and attachment. Creation began because brahma wanted to know who he was. Self-realisation was the goal for which the world was the medium. But when the world was created, brahma was so enchanted by this creation that he got attached to it and tried to control it. In his attachment and desire to control it, he lost all sense of himself. And by doing so became unworthy of worship.

This thought is expressed through an allegorical story narrated in most puranas. In the begning, brahma was all alone. He could not see whence he came from. Who was he, he wondered. Finding no answer he decided to create the ‘other’ so that he would know what he was not. This ‘other’ took the form of a women. She was shatarupa, one of many forms. And she kept changing forms. Brahma was so enchanted by her that he sprouted four heads to look upon her at all times. He chased her but she always ran away. If she turned into any animal he turned into the male form of it. He tried to catch her but he missed him always. He was so enchanted by her that he sprouted four heads to look upon her all the time. He was determined to control her, conquer her. In this obsession, he sprouted a fifth head. Watching brahma chase his own creation gods shouted with disgust. Worried gods called lord shiva for help. Shiva raised his sword and cut the fifth head of brahma. Thus, shiva is today known as the destroyer.

Thus, the passion (creation) is seen as that which is produced through desire and attachment. And obsession (destruction) is that which follows desire-less-ness and detachment.

Brahma yearns to control creation; he is enchanted by it. Shiva has no yearning, detached of all materialistic pleasures. Whereas, Vishnu engages with detachment. Shiva and Vishnu represent how one should live his life. Brahma was a god still announced unworthy of being worshiped because of his obsession.

Brahma running behind his creations and man running behind his produces, so similar? Isn’t it?
If even God was not spared by society how would man?

 I hope finally now you have a clear distinguish ready in your mind of passion v/s obsession. The thin line between the two is now so clearly visible. So, what’s your status today? Passionate or obsessed? Time to get your scales designed to measure your level of Passion and mark the red line of it turning to obsession.

Pillows of Illusion - Quote.

Murdered To Moksha - A Novel by Ketki Borgaonkar & Rohit Shetty.

My 1st Novel ...

Murdered To Moksha-
A Novel by Ketki Borgaonkar and Rohit Shetty

Murdered To Moksha, is a journey of a murder case and the people linked with it.
"Wife’s Murderer or a Victim of fate". This headline flooded the news channels. A 35 yr old guy killing his wife at City Hospital and then trying to jump off the terrace of the same building. A selfish, ruthless murderer who took away a 10 yr old girls mother and then attempted a suicide. why?
Financial problems?...NO.
Disputes with wife?...NO.
Mentally unstable?...NO.
Then, WHY?

Only person had an answer to this question. He, himself.

His silence even at the court sessions added to the twists of the case. He said nothing in his defense neither hired a lawyer. He seemed heartless, cold blooded killer, a murderer, a maniac, mentally unstable to the world. Every medium spoke bad for him but no one really cared to know the reason why he killed his wife.

He was a Murderer until .........


To know more about the release date and other details stay connected by liking the Facebook Page : click here

About The Authors


Ketki Borgaonkar a BMM Graduate currently working at an Event Management Company based in Mumbai as a Marketing Executive. This is her first novel with Rohit Shetty who is an author of 5 Poetry books and currently heading his family business based in Mumbai.

This fiction based novel deals with one of the most controversial topics which exists in this real world. To know more stay connected with Murdered to Moksha to be published by First Step Publishing www.firststepcorp.com. For more details do drop in a mail to info@firststepcorp.com

Being Without You ...

I Love The Way ...