The rise of Feminism

Life changes,  and keep putting things in perspective, sadly almost always different.

Things change. Even more so over the generations. I have seen romantic relationships all around me, and have been fortunate enough to be involved, both actively and passively, in the much unfortunate conclusions. It has made me wonder, whether the rise of feminism and the subsequent female prominence has led to the demise of the fairy tale love stories, or should I say has redefined the meaning of love.

People get into relationships. Very happy. Both find the relationship extremely successful and sprinkled with all the cupid lovey-dovey signs. Yes, it is a typical fairy tale story. However, the end is not so the same. Soon, and almost invariably, there lies a twist in the tale, a choice.  A choice between circumstances and the feelings. Based on my rather immature observations of this world, rarely do the feelings overpower the circumstances. And, almost always, its the fairer sex in conflict. My statistical sample set can obviously be flawed, but the more I move towards successful aware women, the more I have found this trend to be true.

I, justifiably, am not in the position to pass any judgement over the actual reasons behind this nor do I want to. It can be that highest levels of satisfaction need to be granted to each, can be the skewed gender ratio, or any of the incomprehensible forces at work. The redefinition has however added a materialistic and yet mature outlook to the way the relationships are viewed. The families play an equally important role, and so does the status. The feelings play a role, but then its no longer indispensable. Makes sense too. Feelings can grow over time, but bank balance or status wont overnight . Jokes apart, the change has been radical and theoretically extremely interesting. A sociologist friend of mine is hoping to explore this further, as a part of his research.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.

–Mary Schmich

I persevere !

tech NO logy

Let the debate on the benefits of technology resurface!

Avatar

and finally a 3D movie in bangalore.. totally worth the wait… No wonder the multi-plexes have been forced to accommodate this movie. I am sure that the low profile that Cameron kept after Titanic was on some level related to the very feeling you get once you do something immensely spectacular –  The next should be something spectacular-er ! He has rightfully claimed this -er with Avatar.

I will begin with the thing that expectedly will prove to be the USP of the movie.. the graphics.. !.. Cameron waited more than a decade for the technology to mature, and has delivered a masterpiece. The new virtual camera system has been combined spectacularly with such gargantuan imagination and beautiful colors. The characters were supremely real, full of beauty and innocence. To be frank, I was moved more by the scenes rather than the 3D effect. It wears on after a while. The apparent neutral reaction might also be due to the fact that I missed the starting 30 minutes of the movie, because people were more interested in the hooting at the 3D effects rather than listening to any of the dialogs. More on the harping later .

On a serious note, this movie should pave way for a new genre of movies. “Avatar” has presented characters designed on the computer, but played by human actors. The bodies were filmed using the latest evolution of motion-capture technology — markers placed on the actor and tracked by a camera — while the facial expressions were tracked by tiny cameras on headsets that recorded their performances to insert them into a virtual world. An important innovation is the camera developed by Cameron’s team. It helps to observe the performances of the actors-as-aliens, in the film’s virtual environment, as it happens. The technology is extremely scalable and evidently, very effective.

The story line has again picked up on one of the most pertinent questions of contemporary times. It focuses on how the sky-walkers (read – humans) have been destroying their (in this movie other’s) mother nature. Cameron has made his point by not only incorporating the emotions involved, but by subtly referring to how much we have not understood yet, and how much we will never understand if this continues (which I personally think will continue). The movie touches various other movies at different times. It reminds you of matrix (the interconnection albeit in a non-technical way), Lord of the rings (primarily because of the landscapes), The Celestine Prophecy(the universal energy that encompasses everything) and not to forget the recurring theme of how the earth is nearing a doom.

“Avatar” receives two-thumbs up. You need to watch it even if just for the sake of the experience.

FYI.. cameron is planing a trilogy

Us Debt

The Messiah

Smoking Sky

The sky is almost red, and its drizzling yet again. Add to this a terrace breeze, GnR, a mug of coffee @3 am and we will get what life is all about

 

The economics of Jesus

Thanks to CFA overdose, have been hypersensitive about economics and the implications. The obvious start was to re-read Freakonomics in an attempt to have an enlightened understanding . The first time I read it, it was more from a discussion and amazement point of view than otherwise.

Super-freakonomics released sometime back raises some interesting questions again..  can’t say I am much impressed by it. Though, one interesting point was when the authors were questioned by an Indian journalist as to how they will explain the actions of Jesus. What were the “incentives” when Jesus went on “cross” ?

Here is an interesting blogspot answering / commenting on the very same thing.

Without any personal opinion, I will like to to bring this to debate .
At the same I wonder, if such an article/book would have been allowed to publish in India, the land of tolerances as Amartya Sen puts it. The fanaticism is indeed taking the “argumentative” out of The Argumentative Indian. Much on this later.

Read-a-thon : Check !

I didn’t sleep, I read, I conquered !

I am done… had a wonderful time… very impressed with the organization of the event (Kudos to  Hannah (WordLily), Ana (Nymeth), and Trish (Hey Lady!) ).. and most of all..very impressed with myself ..

For more info on the event, visit Dewey’s Read-a-thon

Final Statistics

Time Duration: 5:30 PM yesterday – 5:15 PM today (signing off 15 mins earlier)

Title of Books read: Liar’s Poker, Shantaram, Chances of a Lifetime, Bobby Fischer goes to war, Hellen Keller: Story of my life

Number of Books since I started: 5 (Completed : 3.. Chances of a lifetime, liar’s poker and shantaram)

Pages read since last update: 311

Running total of pages: 1640 (1329 + 311)

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 170 minutes (:P)

Total Running time: 1261 minutes (21 hours 1 minute)

Mini-challenges: 19

I did complete an unsaid aim I had set for myself.. finished off 3 books and read two books partially…

I will love to return next time with a bigger pile of books, in a relatively less finer print to add more to the book count ..  Jokes apart, hats off to everyone who helped in making this event such a huge success…

Later!

Final meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour 11- 12 (which was about 5.30 – 6.30 AM here)

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

All the books were pretty gripping.. considering Shantaram is already a well-read book.. Chances of a lifetime, though belonging to a diff genre altogether, is pretty fixating

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

None as such.. I loved every aspect of it..

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

The cheer-leaders and their enthusiasm really kept everything alive.

5. How many books did you read?

5

6. What were the names of the books you read?

Shantaram, Liar’s Poker, Chances of a lifetime, Bobby Fischer goes to war, Story of my life-Hellen Keller

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Shantaram

8. Which did you enjoy least?

Story of my life… I guess I was just not in the mood

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

Not really…

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I will for sure.. there is no way I can let go off this excitement … I will be reader for sure.. will think of putting in a mini-challenge too