LOL: Life Of Leo

Image Source It's Women's Day tomorrow and I have just received a mail telling us to wear ethic wear at work tomorrow to celebrate the occasion. Because celebrating women means, you tell them to wear something that they are most uncomfortable wearing. Right? Well, that's true in at least my case. So how many of us are all set to do something big this day? I'm not someone who would believe in this concept, nor am I someone who says every day is women's day and act like a rebel. What bothers me are the set of women who walk around trying to prove a point to the entire world about how women are supposed to be treated better. I'm all for it. I am a feminist too, let us not forget that. Having said that, I'm that kind of feminist who believes that men and women should be treated equally. I'm not that kind of woman who feels the need to show her bra in public, well because I can or put up pictures of my stained clothes while on my period. Why? Because wo...

Image Source The festivities are almost over But the remnants of it still remain As much as it brings happiness Diwali does come with its share of pain I still see sparkles in the sky And hear the blast of a cracker or two The air seems to have turned a different shade This is what us humans always do The dogs are still in hiding Some of them are hurt and limping It will take them days to recuperate All because of one day's doing The wind now carries a foul smell You can barely look across it A halo of dirt covers my eyes Stinging and blinding me bit by bit The bright lamps looked so beautiful All that is now left is an oil trail Every face that was decorated until today Now looks all sullen and pale The streets are filled with burnt crackers Some of them are still emanating smoke Somewhere in the joy of celebration We have turned festivities into a joke I hear an old man coughing hard And I see a child with a ba...

Image Source I pass by a temple everyday as I walk to the corner of my street to hail an auto that would take me to my work place. Today I noticed a girl standing outside with a glum look on her face. She must have been eleven or twelve I guess. Her face was smeared with turmeric and the yellow streak on her pale brown skin was disturbing. A minute later her mother walks out and the girl stretches her palm forward for the prashad, but her mother stops her saying that she should not eat this today. It did not take me long to figure out what was happening. The girl frowned and slowly walked ahead as her mother looked for stains around her skirt, and after a self approval she walked ahead of her daughter. I stood and watched this while waiting for the auto waalas to ferry me by agreeing on the meter price. This incident irritated me. It angered me more that it is 2015 and people still treat a girl on her period as something disgusting. Menstruation is a natural process and is a si...

" Indian women's cricket team defeats New Zealand in the final ODI to clinch series ", this news screamed out to me from today's newspaper. Another news article spoke about Shahid Kapoor's recent wedding. Another one spoke about Hema Malini and her tweets blaming the father of the little girl who died for his daughter's death. India is a country obsessed with cricket and Bollywood. And I don't think that this is ever going to change. Festivals and religion divide us and cricket unites us as a nation. Like every other Indian, I love cricket. I do complain a lot about how the authenticity of the game has decreased owing to IPL, CCL and other money making leagues. And yet, I wouldn't stop watching it. My interest in cricket started from when Sachin and Sourav were the openers and has remained until this era. I remember those days when cricket was watchable only on Doordarshan and we had to adjust the antenna atleast a hundred times to watch an over....

Image Source I was watching ' Namastey London ' today. It is one of my favorite Bollywood movies. This love story that launched Katrina Kaif into the limelight is an awesome tale of two incompatible people. But I'm not writing this to promote the movie, but there is a dialogue in the movie that tugged my heart. Akshay tells his father in law that you want everything from abroad, but when it comes to finding a partner for your child, then it has to be an Indian . This rings true in more ways than one. I have seen so many families settled abroad who come to India to find a girl for their sons. The poor girl would have no clue about their lifestyle there and will struggle to adjust later. But yet she is fascinated with the whole idea of being married to an NRI man. The concept of moving to a foreign land is the top one dream for every Indian. Everyone wants to go settle abroad and blend into the western lifestyle there. No matter how narrow minded their thoughts might be...

Image Source Today we live in a country where a man is allowed to rape but a woman is not allowed to masturbate. Yes, I'm starting off my post with this line. I have written enough posts about feminism, prejudice and female genocide. And yet I can go on and on. Because no matter what, there always will be something to write about regarding the trouble a woman has to face in our country. The reason I am writing about this again is that I heard two woman in my apartment talking about a third woman. They were talking about how the third lady dresses in modern clothes and is the perfect target for rape. A few days later I heard them talk about another woman, saying that she would never be able to get married as she is "black". It is so easy to blame a woman for everything. The saddest part is that more than men, it is the women who inflict such prejudices on well, women. I did a little research on this topic among my friends, colleagues and neighbors and these are a...

Image Source Warning: This post contains more than one occurrence of the words sex, porn, fu*k etc. If such words are known to hurt your religious or any other beliefs, then please stop reading right now. Or if you want to spread the word and inform people about the "vulgar" things I write about, then it is time to start dialing now! " It was not like this during our times ", " The new generation is so dirty ", " Women these days need to dress properly ", " The Internet is to blame for all this ", " She is of bad character, look at what she is wearing ". How many time have we heard our elders use these words? Atleast for me it has been one too many times. I remember years ago when MTV was huge and we had awesome music on it. These days all they have are serials after serials. But about ten to fifteen years ago, it was all about what the channel stood for. Music. My grandmother used to sit, frown and cuss when my cousi...

Image Source One of the main problems that our nation faces today is illiteracy. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women. This is a bad statistic. For a nation that churns out lakhs of engineers and doctors every year, this is shocking. Education should be as important as breathing. Most of us will agree that an educated person gets better opportunities in life. It is easier for him or her to become successful and realize their dreams as compared to someone who is uneducated. Other than success and economic prosperity, there are various other reasons why education is really necessary in today’s world. One of the other reasons why India is not the number one country is because of their religious beliefs and superstitions. They are baseless and affect life negatively. More often than not it is the uneducated who stick on to such beliefs as they do not know how it wo...

Image Source I shall wear whatever I want That's not an invite for you to touch me I'm a woman just living her life Why is it so hard to just let me be I am not just curves and breasts I have a heart and feelings too I'm a human being just like you But of course this you don't think through My lifestyle doesn't define my character I am free to do whatever I like I can wear shorts and crop tops Get tattoos and even ride a bike I can drink as much as I want to That doesn't mean I'm an easy target Stay away you lecherous moron Your morals you do not forget I have had enough of this torment I'm not going to succumb to your fear I am Durga and I am Kali I shall fight you with my sword and spear I will tear apart that hand of yours If you try to lay it on my body Nothing about me is wrong or bad It is your upbringing that is shoddy India has forgotten about me I shall remind them after your ...

Image Source Remember how this ad created such a furor in our country, where a woman is shown to be the boss while her husband is her subordinate. A lot was spoken and many people trashed this ad by calling the woman different terms. Yesterday's newspaper spoke about how being a housewife is such a thankless job. A certain court even ruled that the monthly salary for a housewife is equivalent to around Rs. 5000. Five thousand for an entire day's work for thirty days? Talk about being frugal. Rs. 5000 is something that youngsters spend in a weekend now. Be it at a party or shopping. Rs. 5000 doesn't guarantee a stay in a decent place. When was the last time you heard about a one BHK being available for rent at Rs. 5000? Yes, never! Rs. 5000 is something a woman spends just for an hour's session at the parlor for waxing, a facial and a haircut. And this is expected to be the salary of a home maker? A slow salute to that judge who declared this. If a woman is ...

Cleanliness is both the abstract state of being clean and free from dirt, and the process of achieving and maintaining that state .  This is how Wikipedia describes cleanliness. The Prime Minister of our country has stressed upon this fact right from day one. Remember the ads by Aamir Khan called ' Athithi Devo Bhava '? Are we actually a clean nation? Are we setting a good example for our visitors? But then again what does cleanliness mean? It has a different definition for each one of us. For me cleanliness is being pure and true to oneself from outside and the inside. This should be shown in our actions and our behaviour. And most importantly it should come from ones own thought and from within. And how do we achieve this? But creating awareness. And how do we do that? By raising our voice. I would like to address this issue on two grounds. One, by cleaning the literal filth from the streets of our country. Two, by cleaning the filthy thoughts from the minds o...

Image Source: Magpie Tales They sure do look beautiful The epitome of innocence known But I still have doubts about Wanting to have one of my own Children are a blessing they say But I have never felt the need to have one My life is complete in itself I don't need a daughter or a son I love my husband more than anything This love I do not want to share People shall call me selfish for this But honestly, I just don't care Having a baby is a huge thing It turns your life upside down I am so not prepared for this I do not want the maternal crown My husband shares my thought too We are not at all ready for this This is something we are sure about The choice is mine as much as his Although people rejoice in it I have seen some cribbing as well Some say that parenthood is heaven Others agree that it is close to hell It is different for different people A boon to many can be a bane to some But if you want somethin...

I looked around and saw them all sleeping. I peeped out of the door and slowly walked towards the exit. I was in pain, but at this moment the only thing that I wanted to do was to get out of here. The newspapers next day spoke of an abandoned girl baby in a hospital.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

An Idea! I wake up in the morning to a beep on my phone. Sleepy eyed I look at it and a huge pop-up stares back at my face. " Vote today " it says. I hurriedly rush to the bathroom, quickly finish my routine chores and sit back on my sofa with a cup of coffee in my hand and my phone in the other. I open the app " Indian Elections - 2014 " and go through the candidate list. Each candidate has his background information, educational qualification and almost every detail that Google has about him. All this held within the palm of my hand in a single app. Being a lazy bum, I do not want to travel to a certain location, stand in queue and then cast my vote. Hence, I go to the ' Vote Now ' feature of the app and with the click of a button on my phone, I cast my vote. The minute I cast my vote, the app disables itself. That way it ensures that only one vote per person. The app then is put into use for the next elections. Easy right? Have you all heard o...