Saturday 30 March 2013

A hero around us.

Well, I was moved when I first heard of Blogadda's initiative with Gillette. Soldier for women; well there are so many bad apples in the basket and they stand out by their sheer rotten smell- teasing women, throwing taunts, disrespecting them and doing other unmanly things; but there are good ones too. People who stand up for women. Many women have objected against the idea of chivalry and misunderstood the whole movement as is evident with the comments on Blogadda's blog. Well, it's not that they need to be helped or saved; rather, it's actually about whether a man who disrespects a woman or lets it happen under his watch, is a real man? Just like we need good citizens in this country, we need better men; who can take responsibility. We also need better women who can stand up against crimes of all kind but, this is about men- men who can be soldiers. Every woman as she battles the various challenges in society is born a soldier but among men, soldiers are made. Proper education, moral background, an alive conscience- all go into making them. Here are a few examples I can think of-

1. I was in 11th class, annual function was right around the corner. The girls of the class were performing, they thought they'd rehearse their dance in the classroom itself in a free period. A few guys started clapping and whistling as they saw the girls dance. The girls were getting annoyed and soon the situation escalated as one of the guys used some derogatory words for the girls without any provocation. A few guys in the classroom started laughing with him. One of them wasn't. He stood up against the gang and asked them to keep quiet or leave. He was beaten black and blue by the rowdies. He sat in the corner crying as no one really cared, and the rehearsals continued.

2. There was a discussion forum on Facebook where people were allowed to post anonymous comments about their college life, you know, sort of a confessions page. Someone posted that he liked a particular girl in college; upon reading that, the girl didn't really reciprocate and not-so-subtly turned down the creepy anonymous proposal. The next anonymous comment that followed was a sexist slur in disrespectful, mean and rude language. The girl was appalled at this audacity. One of the members of the forum posted a link to the cyber laws prevalent in India and the punishments for such a person who abuses someone publicly on the internet. Next anonymous comment was an apology.

3. On a bus journey from Davangere to Bangalore, a woman passenger was constantly getting harassed by the passenger sitting behind her he tried to touch and grope her with the excuse of constantly trying to adjust the curtains. One of the fellow passengers saw this happening and informed the conductor immediately. The passenger was made to alight in the middle of nowhere as the bus zoomed past him. Till date this example scares the hell out of mischief-mongers.

Saturday 9 March 2013

F?@K KNOWS Review.


Author- Shailendra Singh
Pages- 234
Publishers- Roopa
Genre- Self-help

Roopa publications have been striking a cord with the audience ever since their tryst with Chetan Bhagat. This book also goes into the club of those young, unabashed, truthful books that speak their minds without much beating around the bush. If you go by the biography of author Shailendra Singh, you'd come to know that he is a go-getter. Every go getter has a winning policy. His policy has earned him results and he has done many things from his to-do checklist in life. A list most of us give up on too early.

About the cover- 
The bright yellow with that huge F-word title is like a shout out. If you are in a conservative family, you might need to hide it from your parents. I think the title could have been a little more subtle and have still carried the point across. Anyway, the artwork is funky and makes you pick up the book.

About the book-
This book is divided into 72 chapters. The chapters are small and are like chunks of life wisdom. You might want to read them at your own pace to imbibe it all in. Yes, 72 chapters! Hours of preaching you say? This book is no yawn-fest. Why? Firstly because it's your friend. Not your teacher. As if  that wasn't evident from its cover, the book uses the F-word profusely. It's for those who have sought for happiness and have found themselves lost in the search. I, in my personal opinion, have always been skeptical about books that try to lead me somewhere. Those motivational, guides which claim to lead me to the truth become dust-collectors at the top shelf in my cupboard but not this one. This one doesn't take itself too seriously. It has its light moments. The author is not trying to seduce you to his ideas. He is subtly persuading you to win. Very subtle, it works. It works because it doesn't try too hard. But like any other self-help motivational book, it does make judgments. It does try to generalize and you might end up hating the book for slyly pointing out your follies. People who do not like too much honesty or are on a different intellectual plane might require the author to be present in physical form so that they can cross-question. Of course, that is something that can't happen unless people at Blogadda are thinking about convening a promotional conference. Anyone listening?

The book sometimes slaps you for not giving life a fair chance. I got reminded of Gerald Butler's "Ugly Truth" movie while reading the book, although of course this book doesn't totally focus on sex. For those looking for some undiscovered pearls of wisdom, or secrets of life, the secret elixir, I am sorry- there is nothing for you there. The book only tells you what a good friend would. You know the truth already but doubts, suspicion, procrastination clog your system. This book frees you of your doubts. It will help you make a decision that you wanted to make but never did because you had other stuff in mind. Think of it as a mental broom clearing away dust from your thought processes. 


The author's bio on Blogadda had a fancy line saying that he has launched the careers and "egos" of country's  biggest celebrities. Now what do you mean by launching an ego? You'll come to know when you read this book. It might be about harsh reality but it boosts your ego. We all are craving to discover some self-worth. This book helps you find that. It helps you admit that you need help and then helps you. 



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