The Rebelle blog

केवळ काहीतरी रोज लिहायचं म्हणून लिहिणारे असे कितीक असतील आणि मनातलं कागदावर ओथंबून देण्यासाठी लिहिणारे किती असतील? नुसती उगाच आकडेमोड नकोच. हल्ली लोकांना फार लवकर राग येतो आणि तो लवकर व्यक्त सुद्धा होतो. तर्कावरून सुरु झालेला प्रवास तर्कशुद्ध विवेचनावरच थांबतो असं तर अजिबातच होत नाही. काल एका मराठी वृत्त वाहिनीवर हैदराबाद मध्ये कन्हैया कुमार वर चप्पल फेकली गेली त्यावर चर्चासत्र बघितलं. इतके खुजे लोक राजकारणात आहेत आणि असं विषारी राजकारण करतात हे बघून वाईट तर वाटलच पण आपल्या देशाच्या गौरवशाली परंपरेबद्दल ह्या लोकांच्या मनात किती भ्रामक समजुती आहेत, याचादेखील प्रत्यय आला.  मुळातच विद्यार्थी चळवळ हि काही आज किंवा काल सुरु झालेली चळवळ नाही. तिला देखील काही इतिहास आहेच. आजच्या राजकारणात मुरलेली मंडळी जेव्हा इतका विखारी विद्यार्थी द्वेष व्यक्त करतात तेव्हा आश्चर्यापेक्षा त्यांची मला कीवच जास्त येते. एका विद्यार्थ्याने तुम्हाला एवढं जेरीस आणलं आहे कि त्याच्यावर तुम्ही आता चप्पल देखील फेकतात, त्याला जीवे मारायची धमकी देतात, हात पाय तोडणे यासारख्या फुटकळ घोषणा करतात आणि त्याला तु...

With barely two hours of sleep last night since I spent it watching Kanhaiya Kumar's brilliant address at JNU campus, I woke up today morning to realise I had a host of deadlines to meet. Kanhaiya's call for freedom (Azaadi) kept lingering in my ears and the utter brevity to see so many people share their thoughts on social networking sites about his stance on socialism, secularism, equality and freedom from politics. With that fire in my belly, I wrote a first draft for a friend's branding consultancy website. I have no previous experience on writing corporate profiles but as they say, if you read well, then you can write well. (I would like to whole-heartedly believe this statement.) I realised how scattered student movements are in India. When I was in college, we didn't have any association, no affiliations with political parties of course, but no inkling towards social realities as well. All the students did was attend classes, sit at campus hot spots sipping...

While testing myself for some administrative exams, I stumbled upon the following statement- A 'norm' is a shared expectation or behaviour that connotes to what is considered culturally desirable and appropriate. If that is indeed the definition then we must introspect our role and responsibilities while blatantly passing negative statements about the Refugees and Refugee Crisis. To blame refugees for the terrorist attacks is one of the most illogical thoughts circulating in our society. As humans, are we going to ever think rationally regarding grievances of other humans without measuring their nationality or patriotism or religious affinity? When I read about the hateful thoughts accorded to refugees, I am ashamed to be not able to do anything to stop such propaganda circulating in the masses. Do we really want to inch towards another world war? Do people honestly think that a war and extermination of minorities will lead to peace in the world? I know there are people w...

Festivals have ceased to make me happy since a couple of years. They don't carry the same innocence and excitement any more. And since India is a nation that celebrates culture and life so vivaciously, it's weird to feel this way about culture. Really, but what is culture? Is it merely being happy and celebrating and spending money while many more can't afford a one-time meal? I think it is. We have commercialized and categorized celebrations too. Festivals no longer bring happiness because while the rich can splurge however they wish the poor worry about meeting expenses and trying to make their children not feel the brunt of being helpless and poor. Do they not have any right to be happy any more? And when I see this blatant display of wealth everywhere with not an iota of discomfort on the faces of those who are flaunting it, it makes me wonder as to whether we have ceased being humans after all? Poverty can't make everyone move to tears. Why don't we, the commo...

2006- second year of Architecture school. I am tempted to go back to those days and write about them. Rang De Basanti was released and what euphoria it created! I remember youngsters beaming with pride and a renewed sense of patriotism, speaking up in college projects about their nation as it belonged to them. I don't know how they viewed their country prior to the movie's release. What I remember is students debating in excited tones about nationalism and inequality. That was rare. The songs were played at all public functions and it was suddenly cool to be a rebel. BE A REBEL was the cry. The Right to Information Act was passed in 2005 and it ushered a new wave of keeping tab on government affairs. So many things changed. Social media was introduced. Students got hooked to websites like orkut. Every other student in my school would be in the computer lab after school hours to connect via orkut. The concept of online friends and friendship seemed cool and the 'in thi...