Getting consanguineous...

Well I always keep wondering as to why my beliefs and judgements hardly match with those of the others.The way I think and reason out very often discords with atleast 90% of the crowd around me. But now I am sure, atleast 99% of the people might not hesitate to pick on this post of mine. My sole intention of releasing this post is not to discourteously scoff at people , but only to understand the mysterious and knotty logic behind this tradition which we've been following since eons.

So the concept of 'consanguineous marriages' is something the society is very much cognizant of and is quite customary especially in the southern part of India. 'Consanguineous marriages' refer to marriages between first cousins(being precise , it refers to marriages between people related by blood). According to this practice , a guy is weaponed with a birth right to wed his dad's sister's daughter or his mom's brother's daughter (provided she is younger to him). MOst people are such staunch followers of this custom that they often settle such marriages even when their children are just infants. Parents brazenly discuss the so called impending wedding in the presence of their wards, all throughout their childhood, completely unconcerned about the fact that are mere kids. They begin to tame , train and mould their children's clay minds, persuading and convincing the little ones that they are made only to live together, fully ignoring their age group and levels of comprehension.

Being quite candid, I've found this theory completely devoid of logic. To all those people who fully second this phenomenon , I have a very cogent question to ask. " When your dad's brother's daughter (or mom's sister's daughter) is considered to be your sister, why is it that there is a dreadful change of relationship when it comes to your dad's sister's daughter (or mom's brother's daughter). As a matter of fact , be it my dad's brother or my dad's sister , they are indeed siblings to each other and their children definitely comprise my loving cousins. How different is the latter cousin from the former ?? MY eyes, surprisingly see no concrete difference in these relationships. If the former can be my sister who affectionately sends me a rakhi each year, so can the latter be !!!

Such relations among cousins somehow sounds abysmal to me and Iam in full agreement with the North Indians who denounce this very concept. In the North, children of one's aunt or one's uncle are treated as ' brothers and sisters' without any outrageous and mindless discrimation.

This practice is so deep rooted in our society that though parents play no role in such marriages , the children have no qualms in following it. They seem to possess that implicit and inherent right which encourages them to eye each other right from the beginning. Why do I feel that these people are light years away from logic ??? Why do certain parents swear to perform consanguineous marriages completely being indifferent about their children's future likes and dislikes ?? Why do even the educated decide to get along with a consanguineous relation despite knowing the fact that they might be hazarding their own health ??? Why is that people don't question the vacuous existence of traditions ?? They seem to blindly and merrily follow them just because they have been in practice since ages.

Its high time parents stopped being the cause for the unreasoned fondness the kids begin to develop for each other, when they don't even know what the institution of 'marriage' means.

P.S. : My sincere apologies to those whose beliefs might have been hurt by the above brusque remarks.

The Limitless Idiocy....

Hitherto, the waves carrying the sound "wedding" , which when used to vibrate my tympanic membrane would render me fully exuberant. The merriment in me would overstep all bounds as I would be equipped with total liberty to devour the choicest of foods and drinks to my heart's content. That delight and joy probably bear ample testimony to the immeasurable innocence I used to house during my salad days.But as the childish glutton in me began to die down and as my ability to comprehend the world began to garner power, that childish emotion I was talking about, sadly, is no longer in its cheerful existence.

With so many cousins and friends of mine, having attained marriageable age , I witness marriages being solemnized almost every week. One day , I happened to attempt a closer and careful observation of how exactly a match is okayed. To my sheer horror, I found that the the way a marriage is settled is fraught with supreme idiocy. Appalled to the highest degree, I realized that the people who are getting bound by wedlock are absolute strangers to each other !!! Then I could sense my brain fountaining a deluge of questions. When we are so particular of choosing our 'friends' whose mindset and wavelength matches with that of ours, who apparently belong to our age group , who mostly belong to the same gender as we and who stay with us only from morning to evening on any typical working day in college, how particular and careful should we be while finding a soul mate ???? In any class of students , its quite an open secret that there do exist cold vibes among students often leading to dirty skirmishes in the campus. A girl not being able to stand her own benchmate or a guy not being able to get along with his group is all so ubiquitous.

When a person cannot mingle with his own classmates, whom he knows for quite some time , whom he keeps meeting everyday and who are as old as he , then how risky and hazardous is uniting two strangers who do not know each others' tastes and preferences , views and opinions and each others' behaviour. I mean , just look at how a guy or girl zeroes in on his/her soulmate : 'A mere glance at a photograph and probably a visit to the would-be in-laws' place'. Doesn't it bear close resemblance to selecting a T Shirt from a shop ?? Are we actually choosing a person or picking up an apparel??

When I went around questioning the stupidity of these traditions, the elderly people had to say that when wards get married to a person of their parental choice , its a matter of great pride to them , as their children have awarded importance and immense respect to parental opinion. Another intricacy embedded is the concept of endogamy(marrying people from within the caste). Even today , marrying a girl/guy from another caste is considered to be a sin and would invite banishment from certain communities. It is opined that the task of understanding the traditions and customs for the incoming girl/guy wouldn't be an issue . God Help Me !!!! To hell with castes and creeds. The prerequisite for a marriage to happen , is that the views and opinions of both the groom and bride match , irrespective of the caste or religion they belong to. The most important tradition or custom to be followed is the entity called 'happiness'. All our life, we are taught the concepts of individuality and unfortunately individuality during marriage is puked at.

To those elders who say " Though we didn't know much of each other then, are we not happy today ??" , I'd like to ask them " Do you have an option ??" The mindless society of ours has made this divine institution more of a compromise. If giving importance to parental choice is an issue , then I would ask all such parents to go and gingerly select friends for their wards too. How long will we be forced to select our companions in excruciating parent-chaperoned tea sessions ??? How and why can parents conclude that such and such a girl is the best choice for their son , completely dismissing off his choice . When will wisdom dawn on our society ?? Had there been no barriers of caste and religion , no torturous parental glare, imagine how many people would have been happy with the companions of their choice ?? Let us not make 'marriage' a matter of selfish parental pride and ego. Let us respect the likes and preferences of individuals giving them complete freedom of choice , dumping this very atrocious concept of endogamy and forced parental opinion into total oblivion.

Having turned 21 ..

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!<:-P..............A1...:D " Here I stand tall , by the 21st milestone of my life, carrying an onerous satchel , full of memories, with a supremely humdrum realization that these 21 years have just zoomed past in a jiffy. When I turn back and look at the road I've been traversing since 21 years ,I notice that this road wasn't all that smooth , and at the same time , it wasn't all that bumpy either. The decent number of accomplishments I've had, undoubtedly keep my spirits soaring high in the sky , but all the indecencies , follies and gaffes I've made leave me in a melange of emotions. I feel a strong urge to turn the clock back and merrily correct those mistakes which often keep plaguing my soul. Some of those absurd acts of mine , may not be seem justified to the onlookers, who accuse me that I wasn't right at a particular point of time. I would like to tell them all that perhaps I wasn't right at certain points, but at the same time , I wasn't wrong too. The biggest supreme court I can ever face is my own conscience and which is why convincing my own self is of paramount importance to me. Once I am able do this, then I quit justifying myself and also cease shouting from the rooftops that I am not all that bad.

As a child, I was greatly enamoured of cakes, celebrations , confetti, festoons and gifts. But as I grew older, I could gradually discern it's diminishing magnitude. Today , my birthday is just like any other day except for the fact that I become the cynosure of all eyes for a few hours. My birthday this year,I thought, should be something different from the other ones. I firmly resolved that I should be doing something which I never did till date. This might seem a little weird an act to be done on one's birthday, but its quite necessary that I do. Its very essential that I pay a tribute to all my friends who've been everything to me. I'd love to dedicate this post of mine , to those six jewels who were always with me through thick and thin. In this world which is forever permeated with a stench of selfishness and envy, it's only these friends of mine , who always wish that I ride the elevator to the floor of success.

These six people comprise two of my school mates( Aashu and Praveen), my cousin 'Sowmya'(she is more of a friend than a cousin), this guy 'cnu ' ,whom I unfortunately( :D :D )met in my intermediate( bears a great resemblance to me , we share the same birthday too !!! ), Divya ( the best gift which my engineering bestowed on me) and that very special jewel, who was there for a short time, but had always acted as a sponge, absorbing all my petty little inconveniences with immense forbearance.

These are the people whose company pumps my energy levels to the summit at a breakneck pace. I reside in this small but beautiful world with immeasurably high spirits, with no fear of being bogged down and ofcourse with an unreasonable possessiveness about them.:) ;) Can anyone be luckier than me ?? Noooo... So a very jumbo thankyou to all those precious friends of mine. And a cute budday hug to cnu too :) :)

Give us some respite !!!!

Opinionated as always , I always believed that the only route to realize my dream is diligence and nothing else. A staunch aficionado of Swami Vivekananda as I am , I firmly reposed faith in 'pluck' and blithely dismissed the existence of the entity called 'luck'. Never did my mind ever think of the 'indelible writings on one's forehead' and the inexorability of something called 'fate'. The values which my school had injected into my mind, the copious poems and stories I have been absorbing over these years have probably tailored my mindset to rule out the existence of the entities called 'destiny', 'fate' and 'luck'. But why do I see that the profound beliefs which I've been nurturing since years galore , have now begun to shudder. ?? I somehow realize that the potency of the practical experiences and that of the daily happenings has now started to gradually dislodge my deep rooted beliefs and impressions.

The origin of these practical lessons traces its way back to 2003 , the year I took my Class X exams.I still remember how horrendously I worked to secure a 90% mark and I finally scored something less than what I deserved. Something similar happened during my intermediate course. Right from the first year,I was focussed and determined to pursue my studies in BITS. I successfully secured a decent 98% which was adequate to fetch me a seat in BITS. That very year, BITS changed the mode of admission and started conducting online entrance tests. I was finally forced to take up engineering in a college which I didn't even know. My experiences in engineering have never been all that bitter. This joy was pretty ephemeral as efforts didn't fructify for long. All of a sudden my aggregate took a sharp nosedive without any concrete reason. These are just a few instances of my academic experiences. There have been excruciating experiences in my personal life as well. Certain things which I yearn for , cannot just come to me for no proper reason. Thanks to the intricacies and complications which can never be understood.

If everything were in my own hands, why is it I don't get what I deserve at times ?? Why do I get dragooned into doing something which I abhor ?? Why do I always have to change myself or convince my own self ??? Why do I feel that there is a supreme and massive force which monitors the whole universe ?? Probably it is this colossal force that decides every human being's life. Is it the same entity to which we are always forced to succumb ?? The words destiny , fate and luck refer to the merciless and heinous decisions taken by this juggernaut. Is it that we minions can only make untiring efforts and then seek the approval of this adamantine power???

Many a time ,its ferociousness reaches the acme. Its appalling to note that this entity ,in disguise of Nature savages lakhs of people , renders thousands of them homeless , and doesn't rest until it sees it to it that they starve to death . Is it only that this great power is arrogant of its enormousness ?? If that is so , I hereby question its very wont of preconceiving our future. "Give people what they want if they truly deserve it.. What kind of contentment do you get out of snatching away our dreams and joys ?? You don't even deign to spare poor little children . How arrogant and heartless can you get ?? What right have you got to make and then mercilessly break relationships ??? Oh mighty force, preserve and maintain your supremacy by developing something called 'magnanimousness', lest people's faith in you should gradually get eroded. " is all I want to say.

The realization .... still eludes ???

Well this particular aspect of our Indian Society has always left me infuriated .. I've always denounced it since my childhood .. and even today when I notice people seriously discussing it , I feel an irresistible urge to display the mastery I possess over abuses and then plant a decent kick on their backs .. The movie ' Dasavataram' which I recently watched is no doubt one of the pathetic and wretched movies ever , but it successfully fanned the protesting spark me in to a bright flame which provoked me to pen it down..

The movie went back to the 12th century and portrayed the protagonist as a staunch ' Vaishnavaite' and the wicked king as a 'Shaivaite'. I was surprised to notice that the whole audience was applauding its way to glory when the protagonist uttered the words ' Om Namo Narayanaya' , which was considered morally offensive to the institution of Lord Shiva . He eventually gets tortured and killed in the most brutal way for hurting the religious sentiments of the king. Innocently , I turned to my cousin and asked her as to how different the words ' Om Nama Siva' are from those uttered by the hero. She then went on to explain the feud between the two communities - the Vaishnavaites and the Shaivaites. Strangely, I saw nothing heroic in what the protagonist did ( as opposed to what the audience felt). On the contrary, I was extremely appalled and felt that both the hero and king were supremely and equally insane. "How the heck could people belonging to the same religion raise voices over trivial arguments about sects ??? " ,was the immediate question which occurred to me. And then my cousin whispered into my ears " As if the society has changed today.." Is it not alarming that it's been 8 to 9 centuries hence and we are still the same ??? Hat's off to the determination and obstinacy of we people who have vowed not to budge from our stand and who have still chosen to wallow in a world infested with so called castes and religions.

The fact that people haven't changed an iota since centuries shoved me into a rude shock !! Any sermon or any seminar which we attend these days start off with the hackneyed phrase ' the advancements of science and technology are ...'. But nobody ever bothers about the maturity and broad-minded attitude which most people have failed to acquire over the times. Something more horrendous is the fact that even the educated lot is no better !! I still remember those early days of my college ,when people unhesitatingly came to me and enquired the caste I belonged to. Is it so important an attribute to be found out from your fellow classmates ?? I mean, as long as I am a human being with two legs and hands , how does the sect I come from ever matter ??? I definitely don't belong to the class of reptiles or animals , if the case were, would have seemed justified for a person to question my presence in the classroom . Yet another boon of the ' advancement of technology' are the social networking sites like orkut !! The 21st century's high-tech users with a so called 'cool attitude' have brazenly incorporated caste-centric communities which work for a 'very phenomenal' cause of bringing together people of the same sect, whose only goal would be to mindlessly glorify their respective classes. Worst still , they have no qualms in associating themselves with certain noble virtues , which they claim are categorical identities to their respective clans.

I was in for a sweet surprise on the day of Krishnashtami when I spotted my aunt's muslim maid paying her due respects to the footprints of Lord Krishna. When someone like her,who unfortunately couldn't get herself educated , could be so magnanimous and pure at heart , why is it that the fully educated class of people still resort to such atrocious gaffes ???

When shall we stop judging others by their castes ?? When will we begin to broaden our horizons of thinking ?? Why do I still notice people trumpeting the achievements of their class and demeaning the occupation of the others ?? Why is it that even the elite conform to the notion of endogamy?? How long would it still take for people to dump this abysmal concept into oblivion ??
Just imagine a world which is shorn of all possible communities and religions , which is complete with pure happiness and brotherhood and where all of us belong only to the species of 'human-beings'.

Let me now quote a dialogue from one of the superhits of telugu cinema which has enormously inspired me " Prapanchamantha oka kutumbam : vasudaika kutumbam" .. Is this realization going to elude us for the centuries to come ??? Hope not !!

And here it comes again !!

After a torrent of serious and ominous topics, I think its time for me to post something healthy and jovial. It's after eons that I am so very delighted, so very excited!! No prizes for guessing the reason !! Its Ganesh Chaturthi tomorrow. !!!! Undoubtedly my favorite of all the festivals !!

Right from the age of 6 or 7 , I was always fascinated with the pomp and splendor the festival is performed with. I can't help recounting the good old memories associated with this festival. Just one day before the festival, my adrenaline would start pumping in the order of gallons. I still remember whiling away all the time in school and desperately waiting to come back home. And after returning home, I'd suddenly transform into a 'boisterous' child( from the ' innocent and cute' image which I generally have ;) ) and pester my mom to take me along with her to Chikkadpally :D :D . That's a sprawling place with a plethora of idols of various kinds, colors and backgrounds. The huge variety of flowers , fruits , leaves and herbs would render me completely enchanted. As is my wont , I'd gorge on the host of delicacies prepared. I'd completely earmark the evenings of the next ten days for exploring all the Ganesh pandals in my vicinity. The funny memories of queuing up along with the other kids for a bite of the 'prasad' is still so vivid. I also have to my credit, the idiosyncrasy of collecting all the regional newspapers and cutting out the spectacular pictures of the Lord and preserving them for future perusal. I would have probably collected them for more than 10 years and that bag of pictures still leaves a smile reminding me of those innocent days.

By and by , I began to sense the mounting intimacy of my family with the Lord. Dad suddenly developed a rare prowess of putting pebbles together and unleashing amazing images of Him. I should confess that initially , I didn't possess the ability to appreciate what dad was doing, but later on the idols dad was dishing out began to proliferate and it surprisingly began to draw everyone's attention. And then I began to wonder as to how dad was able accomplish something which seemed really insurmountable !! The way he zeroes in on stones , his style of glueing them together and finally bringing out awe-inspiring images began to fully captivate me. May be I still do not know how he does it !! I tried following closely the rigmarole he employs , but later I realized that I, who can't even draw the picture of a 'vernier calipers' properly , shouldn't attempt learning an innate talent. In the beginning, it used to be the members of our colony who used to visit our place and check out my dad's work. As time flew, there were many channels and newspapers which came down to our place, captured glimpses of the idols and even conducted interview sessions. I completely enjoyed those moments as my house became the center of attraction. So I take the liberty of leaving a few glimpses of the idols which my dad calls ' prized possessions'. :) Hope people don't take it for fanfaronade. Please condone the flaws in my photography and alignment of the pictures.

My Editorial ...

How desperately I prayed that the Qubit Souvenir be released..How desirous I was to see my editorial in the first page of the magazine.. Well it never happened though.. :) But I guess my blog wouldn't let my work go unnoticed. So here goes my oeuvre..

Editorial……

“The best index to a person’s character is a) how he treats people who can’t do him any good. b) how he treats people who can’t fight back” ----- Abigail Van Buren.

The literary department of Qubit’08 majestically brings out yet another plush edition of its SOUVENIR. The world has definitely witnessed unfathomable advancements in science, technology and communication. In this preposterous pursuit of globalization, the importance of character in our lives has been ruthlessly dumped into mere oblivion. This edition of our SOUVENIR has chosen ‘character’ as its theme.

The above quote by Abigail Van Buren lucidly sums up the reason behind the ghastly destruction of human values in the present world. The gross tendency of we homo sapiens to take an opprobrious advantage of the meek and weak is the culprit behind the parlous placement of human values on a precipice. When I say ‘weak’, it refers to either the financial status or either the mental status. It’s become rather customary to subject the meek to belittling and disparaging remarks. None of us ever falters before making them a soft target of ribald jokes and pranks. The so called ‘mighty’ often stoop low and look frantically for soft targets. But little do they know that they are infinite light years from being strong. They are mere poltroons. We never realize how strong a person is until we see him at his weakest moment. A cat transmogrifies into a tiger in sheer exasperation. After this transmogrification, he who had received brickbats suddenly finds himself swimming in encomiums. People who had earlier taken him for granted don’t hesitate to prostrate before him. This nauseating change in behavior bears ample testimony to our miserable and pitiable character. ‘Knowledge is power’ is the adage that still reverberates. In my view, it’s character coupled with knowledge that becomes one’s forte. Let us vow not to look for easy targets. Let us swear to become humane even before we become engineers!!

QUBIT’08 is undoubtedly another feather added to our cap. With over 5000 students participating and with renowned organizations sponsoring it, it has become a huge hit. We hope to continue this way providing students with an opportunity to discover and develop the creative genius dormant in them.

Unleashing this SOUVENIR has been one of my exciting and noetic adventures. I congratulate the students, faculty members and the sponsors who have worked behind the screens and contributed to the souvenir’s success. Wishing u all a happy reading!!

Editor.

The brouhaha about the proverbial 'true love'

Over and over again ..I get to hear this phrase 'true love'... so much so that it's become horribly hackneyed. What is this so called "true love" all about ?? I always kept wonderin..Why do most of my friends keep gettin bouts of this fever called "true love" ??

I always thought that the only word in the dictionary which has a profound meanin is "love". The word which is so divine in itself stands for purity and a thoroughly selfless and immaculate feelin we have for others. Then why have we prepended this word called "true" ??? Does it mean that the word "love" all by itself can be nothin more than a pastime ??

It's almost a common phenomenon in every college that a guy is in "true love" with a girl who is pleasin to his eyes. (The vice-versa bein very much possible too) Another concept which has become ubiquitous these days and is very much related to this topic is the concept of "trying". The very word reminds me of those nostalgic school days when I used to visit the exhibition and then "try" flingin the ring onto any of the plethora of things displayed in the stall. This is the only meanin I associate the word "try" with.. But thanks to my engineerin which taught me that the word "try" can have varied meanings.. I've seen most of them "tryin" for people of the opposite gender in the name of "true love". Have we become so vainglorious that we 'try' only to display the mastery we possess over our "flatting" abilities ??('flatting' is a colloquial term used for 'impressing' someone) Have we become so depraved that we've begun to consider human beings as damn " things " who can be won by a mere fling of a ring ??

Oh dear folks !!! Please don't defile the pristine nature of love by "tryin" and then attachin the word "true" only to showcase the amorousness you feel for someone..The magic of love is that it needn't be revealed..One doesn't have to hold a rose , kneel and formally propose to someone. Your true love is something which each of them begins to sense even without any of them revealin it.. :)

Lets retain this magic and divinity of it.. Lets stop flauntin our expertise of injectin novel meanings to words.

The Much Needed Fillip.. :)

And finally, here goes my first ever blog.... Never did i think i'd be establishin my foray into bloggin so soon. The very name "Blog" sounded too bombastic , n made me conclude that its only the connoisseurs of English who try out their hands in it.. Little did i realize that bloggin is more or less a euphemism for "diary writing".. (May not be completely right though..)

Lemme now talk about the entity which ignited in me the desire for bloggin.. And that's what i call 'loneliness' .. It myt sound downright absurd that I feel lonely in a world that is perennially abuzz with frenzied activity...With so many people around me who've always contributed to my joy and who've partaken my disappointments ,this so called 'emptiness' is smthn which has to be infinite light years away...Having been blessed with parents who are all ready to go to any extent to fulfil every fatuous desire I mouth , havin been bestowed upon by friends who never falter to give me the much required moral support n patiently listen to my hogwash ; cousins who always guide me through my career and personal life , why do i have to feel left out ?? Despite having a decent number of achievements to my credit,why am I so disgruntled ?? Why do I not feel the bliss of gettin placed ?? Whose company is my heart yearnin for ?? Whom am I frantically searchin for ?? Whom do I feel like pourin my heart out to ?? Whose glimpse is my eyes cravin to dream of ?? Is it the lacuna of a soul mate which is takin a toll on me ?? Do I actually know what I want ?? Or do i simply do not want to confess to it ?? After makin umpteen vain attempts of answerin those perturbin questions..I realized that perhaps my ruffled soul needs time for itself .. needs time to talk to itself.. It needs an avocation which enables it to dodge those posers and probably fill in the tormentin void ... !! And bloggin precisely holds the key to this unusual crunch :) :)