Indifference - What's the damn point?

As my TV blares with Arnab Goswami’s voice bombarding politicians with questions, which he answers himself, my mind races back to recap the impact of the Elections. No, not for Narendra Modi, not for the Congress Party, but the impact it had on me.

Last year, I wouldn’t have bothered about the elections. I can say with reluctant certainty, I wouldn’t have known that elections were even happening. Believe me, this is the most shameful thing a Journalism student can admit. There was no significant incident that dramatically turned my view around, no life-changing reality check. But all I used to hear at one point of time was “Ugh, this country? What is the point of voting? It’s gone to the dogs anyway. I’m getting out of this s*hithole as soon as I can.”, and that made me feel queer. Was I actually…upset? This was new to me. I had lived a comfortable life, filled with ignorance and indifference. I heard people talk about the importance of a stable government, but it always went over my head. The words “UPA” and “BJP” just used to sound like the Alphabet Song to me. But when I saw, heard and felt this indifference as a third person? That hit home for me.

Why? What was the point of indifference? Indifference just gives out the message that we did not care what happened to, for or with the country. That only gave the people governing us more power, if they felt they were ruling an ignorant and unaware country. But WE had the biggest power, we the people could kick them out and throw them out on the streets if they didn’t make a good difference. Why would anybody in their right mind not use that power? And I don’t mean voting for the sake of exercising that right. Voting because choosing who governs us cannot be taken lightly.

Why? What was the point of “leaving this sh*ithole”, as people so eloquently put it? They would spend crores on an expensive wedding and go settle in the USA and live a life of their children getting fat with creepy accents. People can complain about the country all they like, but they cannot sit back and expect change to just happen. “But what difference is one person going to make anyway?”, we might ask. Well, what if millions of us said that? “But the candidates never listen to the public anyway!” Well, if you don’t vote, they can’t hear what we have to say.  I admit, all of this occurred to me on a ten minute bus ride from Guindy. But it was one hell of a thought-provoking bus ride.

I realise the voting lecture is about a month late - I must be Internet Explorer personified. Well, voted or not, the election results were declared today. And it was a historical victory for the BJP, for Narendra Modi, and hopefully, for the country.  The elections changed me from an ignorant and clueless student, to somebody who set an alarm just to wake up and watch the results being declared.  From somebody who did not who Narendra Modi was, to somebody who knows the exact number of seats he bagged. They don’t call us the “Watchdogs of democracy” for nothing.

The Indian Aunty - A beginner's guide 


It doesn't matter if you are a boy or girl, whether there are three people in the room or three hundred, the elders of the family, specifically the aunties, will find you like a moth to a flame and prey on you. Having just recently attended a wedding, the ultimate social hub for the aunties, I think it's safe to say that I saw every type of Aunty under the sun (or shade, because they complained so much about the heat that a separate shamiana was set up for them). Aunties are a very complex species, they must be approached and handled with extreme caution. Of course, there are various breeds of Aunties -

1) The Cynical Nitpick Aunty

Even if you are a straight A student, you always stick to your curfew, you never break the rules, you are always polite with good manners, this type of aunty will always find the ONE thing out of place. A typical conversation with this aunty goes like this :

Cynical Aunty : Hello beta! How are you? What are you upto nowadays?

Poor unaware girl : Hello Aunty! I actually just completed my MBA in the London School Of Economics and I graduated with top honours and I have got a well-paid job in a leading Multi-National Corporation.

Cynical Aunty : Yes yes, but why is your necklace not matching your dress? 

It doesn't matter what you have achieved in life, it doesn't matter if you are holding a Nobel peace prize in your hand, if you have a stain in your dress or you are not wearing a 'bindi', you are done for.

2) The Brand Aunty

This type of aunty is sort of the opposite of the Cynical Aunty.You could be talking about your best friend from Yale who passed away in a gruesome accident, but the only thing she will hear is "Yale University". This is most probably how she will introduce her children or grandchildren to other aunties - "Yes yes hello,this is my daughter, London School of Economics MBA! LSE, LSE!". You half-expect the other aunties to turn to you and say "Hello LSE MBA, how are you?"

These aunties show off their children or grandchildren like trophies. Forget about having an identity of your own, you are now a walking brand value.

3) The "Progressive" Aunty

This type of aunty believes she is extremely modern and progressive and "hip". She truly believes she understands the mindset of the "new generation"."Beta, I'm very progressive. You marry anybody you want. They just have to be same religion, state, city, caste and sub-caste as you, okay? But we are very open-minded." 

4) The overly-affectionate aunties :
You are most likely to suffer from broken ribs with the intensity of the hugs these aunties give you. Your cheeks are sore from all the kisses they hurl at you. Your names will be twisted and changed to accomodate various terms of endearment, usually in one long breath. "BetaMyLovelySweetWonderfulBeautifulGirlHowYouHaveGrownUpMyBaby!"

Some common traits of all aunties :

Gossip mongers : All aunties know everything. Nobody knows how they know, but they just do. If you are talking to a boy outside your tuition 10 kilometers away from their house, they will know and attack you about it the next time you meet. You are never safe from them, beware.

Food-obsessed : The first question that will ever slip out of an aunty's mouth is most likely to be "Did you eat? What did you eat? Why didn't you eat some more?" This is not something to exactly complain about, as aunties always make the most delicious food, but you end up considerably heavier after a visit to their house.

The knuckle-crackers : In all honesty, this is quite a scary characteristic of aunties. They crack their knuckles to rid you of all the "Drishti", and the sound makes you wonder if somebody is breaking boulders around you.

However, all said and done and err..written, aunties are the backbone of a family. They are caring people (who have provided us with endless dishes of food) and have our best interests at heart (most of the time). A family get together is absolutely incomplete without them, their gossip, their liveliness and their eccentricity.(To the aunties who are reading this right now, hopefully this pacifies you, and I don't get too chastised the next time we meet!)

THE CUSTOMARY "First Post!!" Post

For the last few months, one part of my mind has been saying "Okay, start a blog today. You can finally channel your passion for writing in a fruitful manner, and you can get constructive criticism for your work which will help you go a long way, and you can learn so much from all the wonderful writers out there." But then, there is the other part of my mind that said "Naaaah". Both made such compelling arguments.

I contemplated a lot before deciding to start this blog, asking myself a lot of thought-provoking questions. How often would I blog? I had no idea. What would I blog about? I had absolutely no idea. And then came probably the most important question... Would people even read my blog? And then I realised, this did not matter much to me. It did not matter whether one or one hundred people read my writing, as just the simple joy of writing and challenging myself was enough for me, as hokey as that sounds.

When I told people about my decision to begin a blog, the reactions varied from "Finally! I can't wait to read it!" to "Ha! You will get bored in a day!" to "Wow... cool... what's a blog?" As an aspiring journalist, there is a lot of pressure to write well and be creative; people have expectations of you. In my Journalism course, I am being taught how to provide people with straight facts and hard news without being biased and opinionated. But the best part about having a blog, is that it is my space to post my perspective about life. It almost feels like I get the best of both worlds - I get to be a Journalist for the news and an Author for my views all at once.

So here I am, with nothing but my insomnia for company, penning (Okay, typing. I tried to sound very poetic there.) my first blog post at 12:30 AM. And I can say in all honesty, I have never felt more comfortable. So here is to a lot more writing, learning and sleepless nights!