Coming out of the COCOON

"It's more of Brown coloured sweet water !!!", I frowned at the cup of Tea. 

"Ye tera ghar nahi hai jo tujhe Adrak wali kadak chai mile. This is Hostel (This is not your home, where you get Ginger Tea)", said Ranju quickly having her first sip.   

"There is a Tea stall nearby. Shall we go?", I asked.

"Nahi Didi.... Have you seen any girl having Tea there???", asked Preeti - The most girlie kind of a girl I ever met.

"No... but...", I thought for a while.

"Let's be the first ones to do that.", Ranju completed my sentence.

So... We went near the Tea-stall. Somewhere around 10 customers (all men) were there. 

"Bhaiyya, Teen Chai", I said. ... We felt that everyone there is staring at us with amusement. "Parcel", continued Ranju adjusting my request. 

We get the comfort zone only when we can't be singled out in crowd. Don't know why, but we girls (specially Indian girls)  tend to think more in this way.. We are perhaps to some extent brought up that way. We have to think a lot on "What will others think ?, Does it look good?" 

Going for shopping alone?? - Ahem... Is it that urgent? Let me wait for some company. 

Going for a movie alone --- AAh! that's completely insane...

Having Lunch/Dinner in a restaurant alone - Better I take parcel.

Wanna catch a bus? Gotto run?? - Most of the girlie girls prefer to wait for the next bus and walk in their standard speed. 

Want to play an outdoor game - Again, you seek for company, a proper park ( you don't really appreciate the thought of playing in the Gali.) Guys can play Gali cricket, but gals cant play in Gali (that's an unsaid rule). We all know that most of the girls after teenage give up playing outdoor games (there's  some exception, though). They loose interest because most of the times they don't get the right company... and it is hard to get such company in such society. 

I know some of my friends, who seriously depend upon their boyfriends / Brothers for the smallest of the daily needs that come across. We have this thick shell of the so called protection around us that coming out of it is a big deal. You get so much accustomed to it that you don't feel anything wrong in it, and in fact, you start liking it. 

I'm not talking about "Naari Shakti Zindabad" stuff. I'm not arguing that girls and boys are equally strong physically and mentally. 

I just want to say that women of 21st century should come out of the cocoon of stereotypes she is confined to, to some extent, if not fully. Come out from it slowly and steadily, if not at once. I just am pondering that to have a single cup of tea in a tea stall, you are bound to think.. WHY?? Is it because of the society we live in or is it my own "inside the box" thinking???

Mission - Water CAN!!

It was 9 AM in the morning. Half bucket of water was available in wash room. Mom said, "I'm waiting since 5 AM for water. Please go and arrange some water cans.".. New thing for me!!... I said "I think Dad can arrange... Let me call. He is in office. He must be knowing".  " No need beta... There's a tea shop in the next lane. Ask him where we can get water cans", Mom said. But, the impatient ME was already on call.

"Hello, Dady, There's no water in home. Relatives too are there. Veena Aunty and Sharma Aunty may come in next 2 hours for satsang. what should I do? Where should I call? Do you have any phone number to call and arrange water??" I was speaking NON-STOP.

Dad with his patient voice asked "Entii ?? " (What?)

"Huh!! O Dady.. No Water. Please arrange", I said, this time in a shorter version.

"Oh... Hmmm... I had one contact of a water supplier.... Hmmm.... But.... I changed my mobile... That number is lost... Hmmm... Let me check..." 

After a long pause, he continued "Do one thing...There's a tea shop in the next lane. Ask him where we can get water cans"

"Okay! So, Audio replay in different voice this time", I thought and cursed myself for not listening to the first voice.

I brushed my teeth with one mug of water.  I said to myself, "Kindly adjust..." 

@ Tea Shop - "Bhaiyya, yahan paani kahan milega?" (Brother, where can I get water??)  He gave me a strange look and looked at the water bottle beside his Tea can. As guessed by his strange looks, he didn't know.
I saw one of my neighbours was passing by.  
"Namaste Uncle"
"Hello.. So, how's your vacation going?"
"Yeah..Good. Uncle, can you tell me, where can I get water cans here. Some water scarcity at home", I came to the point directly.
"Don't know. I'll inform you, in case I see any water seller", he said with a big smile.
"Thank you.. (but I wonder if you find him in an hour):, I thought.

I came back home and told the same story to mom. My peddananagaru (paternal uncle), who was listening to this, joined me in my hunt for water. After roaming in three to four lanes and asking almost every shopper and vendor, we finally got the address of the water supplier. 


"We need 6 water cans", I said.
"Bhara hua ya khali?" (Empty one or filled one?), he asked. 
"Of course, filled ones please!!" I said with the obviousness of the matter and gave our address with a sigh of relief. 
While coming back it started drizzling. "WATER - Ah.. What a relief!!", I smiled. Peddananagaru smiled back and said, "No wonder if a few years down the line, we buy the air we breathe!". 
Water is one of the most basic of all needs - And yet, we take water for granted. We waste water needlessly and don't realize that clean water is a very limited resource.


Save water, each drop is precious!
Please go through few tips to save water in the below link.
http://www.pubarticles.com/article-five-aspects-to-save-water-at-home-1251451885.html

Casting out Casteism: Can you???

"Em Pilla, meeru evaru??" ("Hello girl..., who are you?", here 'who are you' signifies 'what caste you belong to'); this was among the first few questions asked when I entered my hostel, some 4 years back. I was not used to this type of questions. I'm brought up in a locality where almost people from most of the religions and most of the states live together. This question sounded odd to me...

Nevertheless,  I answered "Hmm.. Brahmin... why?" 

She was startled.. That's what I understood from her reaction. 

She asked "enti? Brahmin aa?" (What!, Brahmin?) giving some extra stress to the word "Brahmin".

"Why? What happenned?", I asked again. 

"Ah.. Nothing re... You don't look like a Brahmin, so...", she said. 

"Oh, is it??, By the way, I don't know how Brahmins look like... Please explain", I asked. 

She smiled this time and said, "Don't mind, but brahmins are generally of a fairer complexion". 

LOL, what an idea to identify the caste...  My mom says, "A TRUE BRAHMIN is one who has acquired brahminhood not by birth but through his noble actions." "Brahmin" in real sense means the one who has Brahma Gnana. It is not a caste. Ask anyone in today's generation and most often reply would be "One who eats only vegetarian food"... you may also get some weird replies like the man who has a V shaped or three horizontal Tilakams on forehead, or the man who wears a sacred thread (Woman, by default, is not of much importance in Indian society, she is known by the name of either father or Husband).... or  in worst cases as in the above incident "One who is of a fairer complexion!"


India has been a land obsessed by caste and has been unable to rise above it.  It is known to be “world’s biggest democracy” and ironically it is “world’s biggest social segregation" as well.  The caste system - a subtle and deeply rooted system of social differentiation and segregation - is without a doubt an exact opposite to the fundamental ideals of democratic practice.

I keep wondering why in this age, the great people of a great nation, can still be trapped in such a system of social segregation against fellow countrymen/women as caste. 

Most of the people in "so-called" modern society keep on flaunting to be heretic, but the fear of acceptance in their society makes them think the way presented in the cartoon here:  (The word "Brahmin" in the below cartoon can be changed with Reddy, Choudhary, Iyer, etc... etc... all the castes present). We forget that Society is made for man and not vice-versa. Take the recent worst cases of honor killings - Choose to have relationship outside of family's tribal affiliation and/or religious community AND YOU MAY BE KILLED... If not killed literally, you may be killed mentally as YOU ARE FORBIDDEN from the family. 

We - Indians boast a lot about having "UNITY IN DIVERSITY" but India is so much largely divided in terms of caste, region, religion, language and communities that Unity in true sense is next to impossible.
I dream of seeing a day in my life when people say that "I am a world citizen and the world is mine...Only 1 Caste exists and that is Humanity". Reminds me of a dialogue in Hindi Movie My Name is Khan where hero's  mother says, "The only difference between people is that there are good people and there are bad people."

We have to change society. We cannot change laws. We have to change society by changing ourselves, so that when we become law makers, may be for our next generations, at least then our world has a chance having new laws, sensible laws, laws which unite human beings and not divide them.

Colors of Life

Holi went by yesterday. Some of the girls were playing with colors. I was not much interested. I remembered the good old days of my childhood, when Holi was the time to play, play and play...It usually occurred during the Final exams in the academic year and that was really sad. I remember how we used the water from the tanks upstairs and poured water on every person passing by. 
Holi is a time to reach out with the colors of joy. It is the time to love and forgive. It is the time when one can express the happiness of being loved and to be loved through colors. Holi is a special time of year to remember those who are close to our hearts with splashing colors! I see Holi, not as a religious festival, but as a social festival in which all the colors of castes, creeds, regions and religions shall be mixed up.
So, coming back to reaching the colors of joy, I spent the day by watching the colors of nature. Isn't color an integral part of our life? We know the colors of the rainbow as a natural progression; we know how (white) light breaks into the same rainbow colors through a crystal prism or through water. When the sun sets we go through the same array of colors again, though amber and deep blue are the dominant colors. At mid-day we have this crisp cool white light. A glance at any natural scene provides many examples of the mysteries of colors. There are so many different colors of life, of feelings and of expressions. I wonder at God's creation!

Politics -- Its all about Money!!!

With more than 700 million voters, India is the world’s largest democracy. However, it is far from being an ideal democracy.

Today, GHMC Elections were held (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation); a holiday for many. I was having my weekly off. 
One of the political leader (contestant in GHMC) is near to my place and hence, there was much "Khalbali" around. From the past one week or more, there was this great fuss of campaigning. Increasingly, campaigns are becoming more like full-fledged entertainment events. Folk dances, songs and folk rhythms are drawing huge numbers to the campaigns. But, we have suffered through a lot of irritating noise pollution from the double storied digital sound systems the whole week. I have personally never been much interested in politics and I wonder, how does this campaigning add value to people at large? But, its making huge impact on the crowds who never ever think about the proportion of money poured in to organise these campaigns. I'm sure the money spent on such things can make a village become self- sufficient in its water and food needs at least.

Coming back to the E-Day, the street was comparatively quite silent. The past few days, the Telangana songs of begging for vote were intolerable. I was busy in having my breakfast @ 11. am. Someone knocked the door... "Sowjanya, Aunty here", a voice came from outside. "Oh, Namaste Aunty", I welcomed. "So, are you going to vote today?", She inquired with a beautiful smile. Hesitatingly and a bit with shame, I said "No, I don't have voter ID for Hyderabad. I have it for Delhi....". "Actually i didnt get much time to register for that", I started explaining; trying to show that I am a good citizen and I know my duties, but I'm too busy for these duties. She said "No Problem, I came for that only. You can vote without a voter ID. Do vote for Mr.X of our colony. Everything will be taken care". I was shocked and exclaimed "You mean a False vote????". She said, "Yes, dear! and that won't be a problem, Many are doing that and I will accompany you. Many others who are not having voter's ID will go". I said "No, I'm not interested in doing so", with a firm voice this time. She went off with an angry face saying " It's not a compulsion, Your wish! I just thought you'll be happy to vote. Many girls and boys of your age are voting". She didn't say that some of them are being paid to vote, which I sensed.

I just wonder how many such false bogus votes have reached the ballot box! Today's politics is all about division on the basis of caste, religion and most importantly Money & advertising their brand, the symbol of their party! To achieve this new definition of politics, political parties have started appointing advertising companies to do their brand-building exercise. It is the job of advertising agencies to 'brand' parties and make pitches for them which are worth crores of rupees. Thousands of SMSes are being circulated, asking individual voters to register. The money velocity is so high that it is impossible for an ordinary citizen to even try and understand it. Where is the transparency and accountability of the Indian political system, starting from the grass root level to local level going up to state and national level???


The thoughts kind of disappointed me and it happens every time we see crime, corruption and any such negative thing. What the common people merely could do is "Stay away from it and Play safe". And, as they say "It's easier to wear a slipper than to carpet the whole earth"