Beauty and the Beast...

At the onset, I would like to mention that this post is an outcome of me wanting to speak out my mind in some form. Writing acts as channel to pen down my thoughts as I have been numbed after reading about a brutal act that happened in Delhi on a 23-year old girl. On one end I saw lawyers, cops, women activists, celebrities give their news bytes on the social and print media while on the other end the word on the street sought justice.

We have been relying on statistics, demographics and a whole bunch of other data for the longest time now but what we are failing to notice is the toxic mindset that is slowly creeping into the society. Yes, Delhi leads in gang rape numbers in India, does that automatically mean that women in other parts of India or anywhere else are safe? The answer is a big 'NO'. Having said that, it is a function of the society that we live in where looks, leering and groping feature into actions that are 'not serious'. To add to this, it really does not help when 90% of the rapes that happen are by the 'known' people. How does it feel when one's circle of trust is broken by the very trusted ones? How does it feel when the boundaries are crossed by infiltrators in the garb of trusted ones? 

We have to understand that every state, especially the metros are undergoing a 'cosmopolitan' spin. Delhi, for instance, shares its borders with states where female foeticide and patriarchy levels are high whereas education levels are low. So when we are on the path to a culture that is more 'modern', we also have to be aware that this includes population which are 'ancient' in their mindset with respect to their attitude towards women.

Some men can't stand women speaking their mind, while some other men can't stand her being confident and successful. Taking it a bit further, some women also can't stand other women speaking their mind. So I am not trying to make it a gender issue. In this post, 'beauty' means the affected and the 'beast' means the person with a flawed soul, irrespective of gender. So when a sane woman has to find her way through this insanity, she is often told to keep quiet. It is time for us to realize that we have to hit  back where it hurts the most. By that I mean, first and foremost we have to stand up for ourselves, learn some form of self-defense techniques and not let looks, words or touches that we are not comfortable with go under the 'chalta hai' attitude.

In a society, where for the most part, words like 'sex' and 'rape' cannot be uttered, there is a threat for even kids not being spared from such ghastly acts. So if you think adulthood is the barrier to be crossed, think again. In such a scenario it becomes imperative for us to teach our kids the difference between a 'good' touch and a 'bad' touch, a 'good' look and a 'bad' look and so on and so forth. Each of us has an intuition on these things and so do kids but they need to know they have the communication channel open with their parents to be able to share it with them.

The dynamics of society are changing so fast that the transition from 'this is someone we don't know' to 'this is someone we know' is happening rapidly. Hence lawmakers and security personnel need to understand the criticality of the issue and amend the laws of punishable offences, increase the conviction rates to a great extent. Only when the fear is instilled, will there be real beauty in driving away these beasts.

My sincere prayers with the girl who is battling for her life in Delhi.

Comics - A Forgotten Era

Many years ago, there was a time when "characters literally used to be larger than life". During summer vacation, the place that used to be thronged with people, were the lending libraries. Detective stories, novels,high school romance, you name it and every genre used to be available in those neatly stacked shelves. My first brush with reading, from what I clearly remember, was with comics. The sheer enthusiasm that it brought on my face while flipping through its pages stands out as a vivid childhood memory for me. The most fascinating aspect about comics was the conveyance of stories through pictorial representations.

Subscriptions was the name of the game and I used to eagerly wait for the postman to drop in these monthly subscriptions at my doorstep. The subscription list would seem nothing short of a monthly grocery list but the standout recollections are of Tinkle, Champak, Chandamama, Gokulam and Archies Comics. Tales of the brave Shikhari Shambu, a confused Supandi and a witty Chacha Chaudhary were the discussion topics in the evening after play. Mythological stories like Ramayan and Mahabharat conveyed through comics served as an excellent means for education and light reading.The perplexed Archie caught between Betty and Veronica continues to instill a thrill in me which is not bound to age. Flying heroes like SpiderMan and Batman saving damsels in distress against all odds were my definition of saviours. Its the sheer art of storytelling through this form that intrigues me. With the advent of television, most of these characters were made into successful running shows in the visual medium.

Today, as I flip through another page of Archies Comics, I ponder would comics remain an integral part of children's world in India with no dearth of gaming technology around? Would all these unsung superheroes fade into oblivion? In case that happens, we would be making a laughing stock out of ourselves on losing out on something that has spread laughter for generations across all languages. After all, a picture speaks more than a thousand words, including a caricature.

Ramblings from a Rusty Mind...

As the day unfolded, the state of my mind felt unfrozen inspite of the sweltering summer heat. What followed was an infuse of fresh air in the deep shackles of my mind, which at that moment,seemed like ancient ruins of utmost historic significance. Sculpted images of various forms were visible and they alluringly called me to relive some past moments. Words scribbled across the wall, engraved on stone, flying in all puzzling directions, beckoned me for some scrabble-like mind games. My eyes gazed around the canvas of the captured journey. The journey looked like the waxing and waning phenomenon of a tuning fork filled with peaks and troughs. I stationed myself on a rock and pondered on the crossroads that lay ahead which had to be traveled by the mind, which by now had got succumbed to the default usage of Google maps. The structure of an old fireplace resembled a wartime era where soldiers used to shelter themselves during combats. These shards of thoughts splitting in all directions were trying to anti-corrode the rusted inners of my brains and ignite the stories that had to be written.

Spellbound by this phenomenon, I tried to resist the same and what followed was bizarre alphabets stringed themselves to form words, which connected to form sentences. There was a point in time when timelines were just seen on your face but now it has become a way of your life is what an embedded ornate mirror in the ruins was strikingly telling me. As I narrowed my vision to what seemed like light at the end of the tunnel, I realized that the writer's block had been catapulted far far away.

Tea With Deeps - The Launch of Theme Song

When thoughts meander, some ideas take shape. An online chat show as per my interpretation garnished with humour is the attempt which takes the form of the launch of the chat show "Tea With Deeps". This chat show would feature in a series but this blog would not be limited to just the chat show updates.

Theme Song


Every serial has a song by which its recognised everywhere. A blog talk show shouldn't be any different, but the only difference here would be that you can't hear the song playing, you can just read the lyrics.

Just come and sit on the couch,
just feel a soothing touch,
Just let the thoughts and dreams unfold,
just let's talk of tales untold,
Its the time to take a refreshing sip
Its the time for tea with Di(ee)ps

Just relax and just unwind,
just feel free to speak your mind,
Just take a break and manage a smile,
just let go and walk a mile,
Its the time to take a refreshing sip
Its the time for tea with Di(ee)ps



The first episode of the show would be launched soon....