Since everyone has an opinion on 26\11...

... I guess I should have one too? Having never been one to slack off in giving my opinion on any topic under the sun, I avoided this one like the plague for various reasons. The subject is too touchy and way too close to home, so anything and everything I say can and will be taken out of context.

The past week I've heard everything there is to hear from everyone (including our so-called embarrassing "News" channels) and received dozens of emails, forwards, petitions etc. asking for my support. There is so much information around - "The ISI is involved", "7 terrorists still at large", "US intelligence warned India of seaborne attacks on Mumbai (going as far as naming the Taj Hotel as a target)".

I don't know what to believe in and what not to believe in. All I know is that I feel the same emotion that I'm sure a lot of Indians are feeling right now - Anger. Some are angry at the terrorists and some are angry at the politicians. I'm angry at neither. I'm angry at the Indian people.

Take a look at our politicians. Seriously. Think about the people in charge of our country. Who do you see? Leaders? I see people who have been involved in criminal activity for large parts of their lives. Corruption, murder, rape, kidnappings, extortion - these are the qualifications of a lot of our "leaders". Just because they kill people slowly and under the radar makes them no better than terrrorists in my opinion. So how do you expect these very people to sympathize with the common man?

WE put them there in that position of power and WE need to get them out. How did previous attacks on our country go unnoticed? Are we reacting this time because a lot of affluent and foreign people have been targetted thereby garnering a lot of international attention that we can't avoid? The politicians know that all they need to do is wait it out. We have a very short memory. Soon this too will be forgotten. Why wasn't 7\11 our 9\11? There is one particular email circulating that states the recent disasters that have struck India where they've gotten that very date wrong (or it has been intentionally changed by the originator to fit into some astrological numerical bullshit)! Several years after 9\11, Americans still remember that day grimly and have taken a lot of strict measures to avoid a recurrence while 2 years after 7\11, we are reminded of it only after another attack.

The terrorists are smartly exploiting the youth to carry out their missions. It is time for youth of India to take charge and fight back. We want to declare war on terrorism but we don't have the right leaders to fight that war for us.

My advice? Don't waste your time on futile protests. We have been failing in our most important duty, and that is electing responsible leaders for our county. So, in our next elections, get out and vote. Learn about our candidates, research their pasts, spread the awareness and have your say in electing our future leaders. The current US elections are proof that the youth can play a major role in bringing about the needed change for a country. Let's not elect politicians who are just continuing their family business, but politicians whose family IS the people of India. Once we have such leaders who truly care about India and her safety and prosperity, no terrorists will dare attack us or in the least, we won't let them succeed.

And as citizens, let's stop sitting around and taking pride in trivialities like India winning some cricket series, and let's play a more active role in society. For starters, we should do our basic civic duty by reporting suspicious activities, being more alert and aware of the people in our surroundings, and apart from not partaking in illegal\criminal activities must also bring any such known activities to light. Let's take India to the heights she deserves to be at.

Yes, we can. And only we can.

"Well done, McDonalds" or "Why kids need to STAY IN SCHOOL!"

I'm not a hard person to please. In fact, one thing that makes me very very happy is McDonald's McFlurry. It's a very simple, easy dish that involves mixing various chocolates\candy in vanilla ice-cream. My favourite one is the Smarties-Rolo combo McFlurry. It puts a satisfied smile on my face.

So, today, I go to McDonalds for the sole purpose of wanting something to smile about. After standing in the ridiculously long line (I still don't understand why people eat the other stuff at McDonalds!), I place my order. I look at the 14? year old in front of me who is about to make me very very happy.

First, she brings me 2 McFlurry's - one Smarties and one Rolo. I say, "No, I want just one, with both Smarties and Rolo." I'm still smiling at her, as this small setback is nothing compared to my happy feeling I'm going to get afterward. She comes back with the order and I leave.

Outside the building, I start to sense that it doesn't look like the colourful McFlurry I have grown to love. Maybe the Smarties are hidden underneath, as I saw pieces of Rolo on top. I took a bite.

Stupid #$%^ing Bitch! That was KitKat. Not Smarties. I like KitKat. But not in my McFlurry. I wanted Smarties. Seriously, how hard is it to get a simple order right??? I gave her not one, but two chances!!!!

Maybe I should have gone back and got it exchanged. Stand in line again for 20 mins till she screws up my order yet again? It's just a $3 item that does not seem like a big deal. But it's not about the money. I wanted my "happy meal" and she couldn't even comprehend my order. Why is she even working there?

I think kids need to remain in school and concentrate on being there. I don't understand why 14-15 yr olds have to get jobs and try to become independent. Yeah, they grow up faster, but what's the point if they remain stupid? When kids work while in school, they probably enjoy coming to work more, as they get paid, and then have their own money to spend on Pokemon cards and other stuff, while instead their parents should be getting them these things, so that these kids stay at home and study their books!!!!

The winner here is definitely McDonald's who hires these kids. The best kind of employees are the ones you can hire at $6 an hour and pay them $2 an hour instead, because their dense brains won't catch the difference anyway!

Waiting for the light

It's dark
The world's asleep
I can hear the silence

I lie awake
Count the minutes
Clock's chiming in the distance

Floorboards creak
Furniture "pops"
The heater is a nuisance

Fearing
Then reassuring
It's just a matter of patience

Everyone's waking
The earth's rotating
Sun's here in all its brilliance

I've won this fight
But gotta rest for tonight
I'll yet be waiting for the light

Huffing and puffing

Today was a beautiful day - a breathe of fresh air (literally). Usually, the weather around this time of the year is wet or dreary or chilly or wet or dreary or chilly. But today was perfect. A sunny day, clear blue skies, a cool breeze - exhilarating. I took a deep breathe to fill my lungs with the freshness in the air. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Cough cough cough!!!!

I turned to my left in disgust to find the culprit of my irritation - a 30-something year old female having a cigarette. Why anyone would find the need to be smoking on such a beautiful day is beyond practical reason, but to stand in the direction of the blowing breeze and thereby, cheat others next to her of their beautiful day is a worse sin. I stared at her, angrily. For a sudden, I felt most Harry-Potterish, as her cigarette proceeded to fall out of her hands and onto the dirty mud in front of her. "Serves her right", I thought to myself.

Without so much as a flinch, she calmly bent down, picked it right up and put it back in her mouth. And that's when it hit me - why smoker's smoke. They'll just about put any filth into their mouth.

Die smokers. Die.

(o)(o)

It's so much easier to write when I'm in a bad mood. Here's what caused it.


Apparently, Americans find this picture offensive.

Seriously. I actually need a few moments here to get myself together before I can continue writing. What the fuck is wrong with these people???

Here are some reactions, just to give you an idea.

"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote.
"I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another.
"Gross," said a third.

Gross??? What in the world is gross about it? It's a picture of a cute little baby breastfeeding. Why is that offensive? Why? Why? Why?

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it. "I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast — it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

First of all, lady, if you think you're 13 year old son hasn't seen a breast before, you are not naive, but plain stupid. Secondly, wouldn't you rather that your son see this picture and start associating breasts with something sacred and pure like feeding and nourishing babies, as opposed to the only other image out there that breasts are something that men whip out their dicks to jerk off at????

If you read the stories, there are many, that range from a woman being asked to get off a plane for nursing her baby to a woman being reprimanded in a food court for feeding her baby and asked to feed her baby in the bathroom instead, as it was offending people.

That's real nice. A poor baby can't be fed mother's milk at the food court while we stuff our fucking offensive mouths with fat-laden burgers. Classic American attitude.

Breastfeeding is highly offensive, while this is completely acceptable???


Bloody hypocrites.