Tuesday, June 13, 2006

The Receiving End of That.

Monday morning dawns bright and sunny. She wakes up to the incessant knocking at her door, she looks at her watch, DAMN ! it’s only 6:15, but she’s got to get up now even though she slept only at 3:45.

She goes downstairs and as she descends she hears a “ wOnDerFuL” cry of welcome,

“ AAhAA vanthuta maharani…kizha irangi vanthutaa Rani !” ( Aaa, the Great queen has come, she has come down, the queen!) She sighs, and walks into the spacious dining hall. The golden sunlight shines through the windows reflecting off the resplendent polished silver and sparkling crystal in the cupboards. It was a beautiful day, as beautiful as any other day seemed but never was.

She sees HIM..tousled hair and majestic moustache, regally sitting at the table, his sharp eyes ignoring her and reading the newspaper..she looked at him with a longing deep inside her heart, staring at him , memories of wonderful times spent together flooding and clouding her already throbbing head.

THE KID snaps her out of her reverie shouting at her..” Hey YOU !, you do the outside, I’ll look after the inside”…

The Kid – once sweet, loving, and nice. She still is and will always be..to them but not anymore to her. The Kid much more loved for her obedience, her undemanding ways and her homeliness. But all that or nothing, she was nothing like her, never would be what she was or ever will be. Even then,The Kid was much more loved while she was just tolerated.

She walks outside and gets greeted, a genuine heartfelt greeting from two beings who have no need for any pretensions with her. THE DOGS – softly barking, lovingly jumping and prancing around her…her best friends and she smiles for the first and last time that morning – an unpretentious ,genuine smile…

Sadly, good ain’t good enough to last forever and now not even a minute longer for she saw HER..beautiful yet ugly, kind yet cruel, loving as well as hating.. a contradictory personality who’s good is reserved for The Man and The Kid and the rest as usual..for who else…?!

A jeer..” What are you doing there playing with the dogs, are they going to give you your food? “

** I wish they did, I really wish they did, they’d give it with a better heart than you ever will**

“ Pick up the broom!! “

She picks it up and sweeps away the dirty dry leaves from the vaasal ( front entrance of a house) wishing she could do the same thing with her life. She sweeps it clean and sprinkles water neatly. If only life could be cleansed as easily as this.

Even though it was perfectly done, The Woman couldn’t resist screeching, “ Can’t you even do this simple job efficiently? Take away those piles of leaves!! Look how many spots u have missed! Sprinkle the water all over again..when will you learn, oh god!! What will I do!!”

** screech on woman!! **

“ Bitch!, you don’t even know a single simple kolam! Call The Kid!”

** yeah, yeah..what do I know anyway?? The Kid..Oh yes she knows everything**

She calls The Kid and goes inside the house. The Man sipping his tea, gives her a glance but does not say anything.

The kitchen was at its busiest in the mornings. Everyone was there yet she feels stationary as things around her moved so fast…more taunts, more sneers..

“ Can’t you even scrape a carrot without making a mess of it?”

“ Look at the amount of water u have spilt on the floor, I know you are out to get me..you want me to fall don’t you?”

“ Clean it up you incompetent idiot!!”

Then some peace, sipping her coffee, enveloped in her thoughts…. HE speaks now

They haven’t given you coffee to sit here and while away your time! Get back to the kitchen! You bring out the worst in everyone!”

** Et tu….? **

Work and some more work, finally everyone heads upstairs to get ready..she sits in her room unmoving while they bustle around outside. One by one they leave – The Man to make more money and be busy, The Kid to better (butter?!) her brains, but someone hasn’t left yet.

The Woman walks into the room !

“ You uncooperative bitch ! Can’t you get ready like the rest of us? Look at your room! Squalor I say!! Absolute squalor..! how can u live here? Your room is a disgrace to this house and you are a disgrace to the people who live here.. How much more uncooperative can you get? I hope you die a slow death ..can’t you help us out? We are all in a rush , all you do is sit around staring into space…I hope when you die you ache and writhe in pain. Why don’t you just kill yourself ?? You want me to help you? I’ll give you a dose of arsenic, I do know how to kill you without anyone ever suspecting me, do u know that?

I’ll make you want to tear yourself apart in pain…my curses are with you, I hope you fall unto ruin ..you are never going to succeed in anything ..now I know why you’ve failed so many times it’s because of my curses;our curses will always be upon you!!

The sooner you leave this household the better, then atleast we can all live in peace…have u no mouth? Don’t u have anything to say? How will you? I own everything you think you own, even the clothes you wear..hhahahahaa…”

She looks up into The Woman’s eyes so full of fury but somewhere underneath the anger, she detects a milli micron of love from where the fury stemmed.

** I don’t want to speak back, because I am leaving and the fewer words I say, the better,because I’ll leave soon; so don’t worry!!**

The Woman exits screaming and cursing leaving her cruel words hanging in the air, in every nook and corner. Now she goes, she goes to be kind and to provide care to the hundreds who come to her.

The Elders enter the house, bickering as usual even though it was a beautiful and special day for them. She feels at blame for this also as everything had changed once The Elders had left the house. They left because of her…because of her….

Unhappiness and misery are things that man makes for himself but she made it for them, loads and loads of it.

She will leave soon, as promised but a question loomed from inside the darkness of her soul….To leave forever never to return or To just leave and not bother for now ….

She lets the questions fade away into oblivion, into the darkness again .

** I will leave , but I leave to show them who I really am**

With a determined smile, somewhere inside her a lamp had been lit to drive away the darkness of despair….

Monday, January 16, 2006

School Stuff.

WOmANNNNN

This whole post is about women and their problems and whaevvaaa.. we did a skit in school on this and bagged the best assembly prize for it this year.. so heres the script which I had prepared for that skit … it had great music too from safri duo RISE.. used goldwave to make a great mix … we were a hit..



India has been enjoying freedom for the past 58 yrs but Indian women have slowly attained it only in the last few years and though the struggle against the constraints of poverty, religion and society, is not yet over, women are being awarded gradually with more equal rights.
So, here we are, the students of XII D to show you a few glimpses into the journey of women who have traveled long and weary roads to attain freedom. A journey that has taken centuries to end.
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Let us now see the Indian woman take the steps towards freedom, through the pages of history….
We shall first see the traditional woman of the 1900’s and there she comes, walking with her head bent- an embodiment of humility, self-sacrifice and fear. Her face hidden behind a veil, she does not even have the freedom to feel the breeze against her face. Just like the women who fought for freedom then, she too tries to remove her veil, but alas! Society does not allow her and her meek spirit goes down never to have a glimpse of freedom.
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Next, comes the woman of the 1950’s, she has shed the veil but she still does not have the courage to lift her head high and walk bravely. Like the women of her time she tries to break the shackles of tradition and lifts her head but she was not strong enough for Society which punished her and she too goes down without a breath of freedom.
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Finally, we shall see the young women of this era; there they come, icons of self-confidence, yet Society tries to stop them but these strong-spirited women triumph and Society bows in respect of their courage.
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We should never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. These women bring sense, confidence and courage to the minds and hearts of all the women around them. Together, they rise up against all norms of tradition, society and poverty, to break the chains of discrimination and prove that women can do things as well as men and some even better.
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Woman! You are an embodiment of sacrifice, silent suffering, humility, faith and knowledge. Know your strength and capabilities and as Helen Keller said, “Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.”
Thus, the objective of Modern India should be to enhance the self-image and self-confidence of women; to create an environment where women can seek knowledge and information which empowers them to play a positive role in society and in the world at present. Because the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world!

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Arts group editorial - School Magazine.

The impudence or looking down upon the students of the Arts & Humanities group is not an isolated phenomenon that occurs only in Coimbatore or Tamil Nadu, it is an issue for there are instances of such disrespect throughout the country. This article contains inputs from students across various strata of society and regions such as Delhi, Mumbai, Itanagar, Pune, Madurai, Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin etc., Everywhere Arts group students are dogged by the question, "Oh no! Why did you take the Arts group?" I do not claim that everyone has a bad opinion of the Arts group, but there does seem to be a more prodigious number of people who seem to dismissive of an Arts student than the few who are not.

THE TREATMENT OF THE STUDENTS:

Most of us joined this group well-aware of the general disparagements that we may receive from the people who seem to be intrinsically dismissive of the Arts group. The parents are themselves sceptical about the future of the children entering the Arts group, but the general opinion amongst the students is that choosing the group must be based on the student's own personal and logical predilections and not that of their well-meaning parents. One ought to remove the entrenched belief that only dull students take the arts group. The older generation must probably be thinking that we have an outstanding karmic payload on our heads to have "suffered" to take the Arts group in this life cycle. Many others think that taking the Arts group is a pre-requisite to "nobody-dom". There are people, even teachers who had considered the fact that I had taken the Arts group as a piece of childish rebellion. When will people come to understand that we are ensconced in our own goals and desires- a zest to achieve and that being in the arts group helps us to set a path towards realizing our greatest dreams. These days each Arts student has to be demonically clever to adroitly deflect such discouraging questions triggered by the airing of ill-disguised innuendos by well-meaning relatives.

THE ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE:

I do not know why people, more so the parents are unduly infatuated with the professions of a Doctor and an Engineer. It is a known fact that barring a few, most people who have passed out of these professional courses are redundant. There is a multitude of professions out there in the world but there seem to be too many people who are in a deep comatose funk about that fact. I can only hope that someday people might broaden their perspectives about education and the resulting professions.

There will always be those inequitable gaps overcoming the genteel intimacy between the Science students and the Commerce students. Many a student has ruefully admitted that it would have been a wiser choice to join the Arts group. But their attitudes tend to be capricious: one moment they regret their choice and the next, they become fiercely protective. Anyway, one has to understand its naturally incumbent of a student to defend his subject fiercely. Though, we may not be associated with the trappings that become a Science student, we do acquiesce the woes of our brethren who study Science. I therefore,do not think its wrong to ask for a little more encouragement and praise for Arts students, as it may contribute greatly to their progress.

It would not be right on my part to utilize formal rhetoric to change your opinions by citing a litany of the difficulties we also do face, but whatever group we take it does not undermine the basic edifice upon which all of us stand that is " KNOWLEDGE IS POWER". Our school definitely provides a prodigious wealth of learning, it just depends on how one utilizes the wealth. Finally we shall see who will succeed and who will flounder in this much touted competition called life and the tangled web that it weaves.

 
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Photography, Art and Writing by Mad Z is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Also based on works at ziggy-m.deviantart.com.
For permissions beyond the scope of this license or other details,mail the author at ziglord7@gmail.com.