"Who Irom Sharmila?"

The newspapers and TV channels has been bustling with Anna Hazare and Jan Lokpall bills past few months. It took me sometime to understand what the ruckus was about. And when I did, I did not support the bill entirely. The reasons are purely personal. So I did not walk around with a "I am Anna" tag around me nor did increase Mark Zuckerberg's revenue by "Liking" any page. 


And that's when I saw a Facebook status message by a friend which read just "Irom Sharmila". "Who?" was my first reaction.


I wonder how many of us know about this "Iron Lady of Manipur" - Irom Sharmila. I googled her up. Sharmila has been on fast for a decade, since the age of 28, without a morsel of food or water. She's being force fed through her nose a concoction of vitamins and nutrients by the Manipur state government. She weighs 37 kgs, most of her organs are wasted, her menstrual cycle has stopped and her skin pale. And her reason for the fast? To repeal the Indian Paramilitary Forces from the North-East after the "Malom Massacre". The incident where 10 civilians were shot dead by the Assam Rifles on 2nd November, 2000.


I was sad rather than being shocked after reading her story. If she had got half the media attention as Anna Hazare, maybe, there would have been some result of her fast. Hopefully, Sharmila's fast would end soon!

Change...

My life changes when I least expect it. Is it the same with everyone or is it just me?


I haven't been always fond of changes. After a 'wow' vacation at Kashmir I was getting bored by the monotony of life. And then, better half's decision to move to Bangalore was as sudden as I could ever imagine. It was surprising, considering his loathe for the city. Please don't ask me why! Job and house hunt became the priorities in the next few days. Luckily I landed up with my old team again.


House hunt was worrying. No one wanted tenants with a 1and 1/2 year old male Labrador. But why? Joey has been brought up in a 800 sq. ft. first floor apartment. After checking out 5-6 apartments resembling match boxes I managed to find a ground floor portion of an independent house. And the most important criteria was satisfied - keeping Joey.


The hustle and bustle died down after 15 days. Am bored! With no resolutions on my 27th birthday I have no intentions to plan now. Maybe there might be another change waiting for me. And hopefully I am not bored again...

A tribute to her!

She's an artist. A free spirit as she loved to call herself. In her early thirties, she loved herself more than anyone else in the world. A self proclaimed narcissist. And why she shouldn't be. She was beautiful in every sense of it. Sexy as every man called her.

She travelled for the love of her art. Or as she liked to call it, she 'wandered' for her art. No. It wasn't an aimless wandering. She knew what she wanted of her life. She fell in and out of love. Well. Blame the men for making her feel that they weren't worthy!


But somewhere the longing remained. She wanted her man to be with her when she wanted him the most. When she wanted a shoulder to cry on, when she wanted him to just listen to her, when she wanted to hug him. Sometimes she wondered if this lack of love is because she is a nomad.


"What the heck!" she thought. "Its my life!" And a satisfied smile spread across her face.

And... The comeback...

I just realised that I hadn't been blogging since a year. Phew! My last blog was in April 2010. All thanks to Archana Vijay Venkatesh. I love reading her blogs. And now suddenly the strong urge of the crab to break her shell and come out.


April 2010 was a sad month. I quit my most loved job. And when I say I loved my job I really mean it. Two and a half years there was fun. A mixed bag actually. And the bag had a lot of people, emotions, experiences and helluva fun. Can't start taking names here. ;) Oh man! I still miss you all lots. And not to forget Namma Bangalore too. (Sorry, but I can't call my beloved Bangalore as Bengaluru.)


Short stints at two other places was 'God knows what'. I really have no idea what the hell I was doing there. "Cultural misfit''? LOL! Maybe. But did make a few good friends there  too.


Birthday and first wedding anniversary were memorable. Thanks to (you know who) :) Trips to Kerala completed the year. And how could I not mention. I became an aunt twice. A niece and a nephew in a span of 15 days. Whoa!


And yes, my sweetheart Joey turned one too. :) God knows how bored I would have been if not him in the house.


The year ended well. A sexy holiday at Pondicherry. Every lane, every shop, even lamp posts and traffic signals got back huge waves of nostalgia. Ah! C'mon... You can't blame me for that. If you grow up at a place from the age of 13 to 23 you ought to have memories. 


2011 started off on a quiet note. The first long drive with Joey to Palakkad. Must say he wasn't as troublesome as we thought he might turn out to be. 


Hmmm... Now what next? I don't know. I really don't know... My heart's somewhere and my mind's somewhere else trying to get practical. Am going to just wait... But whatever, I've decided to continue writing.