Greetings From The Circus

Our world has been compared to a lot of things - stepping stone to hell, God's gift, an oasis in this enormous universe etc. But I think the most apt description is calling it a circus. The world is just one gigantic circus wherein we are the acrobats, walking upon a tight rope set 20 feet above the ground. From birth, we are brought into this circus and taught the skills of an acrobat. As children we are provided with safety nets during our stint in the circus so that by the time we pass a certain age we should have our skill perfected to the extent that we can perform without the net. As a the future generations we take our turns, while our former generation performers watch our show deciding who reaches the end of the rope and who falls.

Honestly just look back into your lives and remember it as well as you can. You begin to realize that our whole lives have been spent in a shell. It's not a fault per say and not completely ours. We've been aided and encouraged to remain in that shell by first our parents, then our relatives and then our teachers. My parents, although more modern than most, still had their instinctive protective side with me and my sisters that made them stand against revealing the "evil" side of the world to us as long as possible. Our teachers too surprisingly enough do their best to prepare us while avoiding the truth of the situation (surprising because at that time, we all, or at least I did, thought that they were just cruel monsters here to force feed us things we didn't want to know). Too bad they failed at that, but standing where I am right now, it's easier to appreciate them for their efforts and love them more for it.

Now look forward and deny it all you want, but there is a little fear in us as all we see is a fuzzy picture. Nothing is clear about the future and the uncertainty bothers us. Questions flood into our minds. Where are we going to be? What are we going to do? Who will be there for us? Will I be happy? Will I make a difference? Will I get an opportunity?

The D-day is almost upon us and it is almost time for the daredevil stunt. The safety net shall be taken away and the audience will await our performance. Each of us acrobats are going to be let into the ring in order to continue the charade. Who will fall and who will be applauded?

My Bucket List

The knowledge that it is the end prompts you to shoo away your cowardly, egoistical, know-it-all side, and do all those things that you had earlier said you really didn't care about or that you were never going to undertake. Why? Because towards the end, you realize how stupid you've been in letting small hurdles - be it mental or physical - stop you from following your instincts - or as other people say it, your heart.

The Bucket List is actually one of my favorite movie for that precise reason. It shows two old men, who, when they find out that there is no escape for them from cancer, decide to indulge their desires and take off with a list that they create of all the things that they would like to do before they die - the bucket list - regardless of what their families or friends think.

It's almost the end of my college life with SIMC(UG). Yes, the road upto this point has been very rocky. But one can't live with negativity for too long - or at least I can't. So I have made a bucket list of my own of things to do before I finish my last semester.

I'm pretty sure the list will become longer as the days pass because there are so many things that I want to do. But for now, these hold the foremost significant place in the list. They are indeed pretty random and I'm sure that all those who know me in college would be pretty stunned to see certain names, but the list holds true. I'm not saying that I will finish all of them, I'm saying that I'm going to try to do so.

Nikhita's Bucket List for Sem 6:

1) Patch up with Vigya Atri. (definitely should have done that sooner)

2) Hang out with Vigya Atri, Sunaina Bhakri, Neha Srivastava and Chetasi Kane.

3) Spend more time at Ekon with Dipen Shah, Sourya Sen and Antariksh Jain. (cause I miss the times I used to spend at that place)

4) Hang out at Dhruv and Udit's place as a group (the memories of the madness will never fade)

5) Listen to Naman Saraiya elaborate about his next article/drama/event in great detail (stop
looking so shocked Naman)

6) Get drunk with Radhika Chandorkar and Meryl Sebastian. (be it at home or at Mallaka Spice)

7) Go for a night time ride across the city on Shubham Shukla's bike. (Yes, that means that you're taking me, Shubs)

8) Drink at least once with Tuhina Sharma, Kannagi Khanna, Riya Chakravarty, Akansha Thapliyal and Rhia Kapoor.

9) Have dinner with Ayush Kapoor, Nishant Mehta, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Vipul Gupta. (hopefully the promised home cooked chicken by Ayush)

10) Have a chat with Devaashish S Savant.

11) Go to High Spirits with Andrea Brazina Simoes, Nikita Furnell and Saniaa Shah.

12) Hang out with Nagesh, Pranay, Prachi, Suhani, Tashu, Neema, Ami, Nivedita, Vankoor, Ayush Garg, and the entire gang.

13) Go for another "explore the city" walk with Vigya Atri and Madhav Nair.

14) Spend more time with Devika and her beau Saif.

15) Drink with Vigya Atri, Dipen Shah, Sourya Sen and Antariksh Jain (yes Anty you have to drink).
16) Go to Apache (or whatever place that was) with Karan Kurup and Rishabh Nair

Simple Treasures

It’s funny how you never appreciate something until it’s gone. I remember as a little girl of 10, watching T.V stories about teenagers and adults, how I wished that I could grow faster just so that I could experience the glamorous life like they were. I used to be impatient and sick of being a kid back then and used to secretly dress up like the celebrities that I saw.

I look back now and fondly think of all the people that came into my life, all the funny and embarrassing moments, remembering the wild crazy fun everyone used to have doing the most random and simple things, the thrill of learning new things, like how to ride a bike, how to cook etc, the numerous friends one used to make. I never really completely understood how valuable my childhood was until I had grown up. Similarly, I never really fully appreciated my father’s presence in my life either.

I laugh when I think about when I used to be a timid creature, all because of him. I never wanted to do anything outrageous for fear that my father wouldn’t like it. I remember loving him like crazy when he used to do everything that I wanted him to do and raining curses down upon his head whenever he used to stop me from doing something I wanted to do. I never really got up the courage to go talk to him like an equal because he used to be strict with me nor to be myself in front of him.

I miss the times he used to throw me up in the air, his protective presence, the times we spent talking in the balcony while he smoked, the times he would give me stern lectures, the times I used to drop everything at 8 pm sharp and run to the living room because I knew that was when he would step into the house from work…well in short, I miss him.

I never really made an attempt to know him nor did I give him a change to get to know me. Never once did I remind him that he would always be one of the most important personalities in my life. And now I never will get that opportunity.

I don’t know what everyone is going to do today, but I have one suggestion….nay request to you all. Just take 10 minutes off of your busy schedule and appreciate all the simple treasures in your life. Look back fondly upon every memory, live your life contentedly, and most important of all, hold your loved ones close and tell them how much you love them. It’s the least you can do, for those that make you the very person that you are now.

My Royal Pains

Siblings!

I’m sure anyone who has siblings understands the above word is stated not in fondness, or in kindness, it is stated in frustration!

They come in all ages, genders and sizes but there is one thing that they all have in common – they are a pain in the neck!

I remember incidents when my two younger sisters and I were small kids, where I used to chase them around the house, mostly around the dining table. Till date we keep fighting, though the fights have matured from physical to verbal. I’m sure I was a pain too for them; cause I remember believing that they just had to obey my words and bullying them to do so.

I can’t even recall the number of times I landed up in trouble for something they did. Mom’s regular old excuse for that was “You were supposed to make sure they didn’t do anything naughty.” I’m sure all the eldest kid in the family will understand the sentiments that coursed through me for that.

And yet it is a fact that the only people who will stand up to you are your siblings. I was never a violent child with anyone except my cousin brother Madhav (sorry about that!) but when I was in 7^th std, I beat up this big fat guy, just because he had made my sister, Kanch, cry by bullying her.

Kanch and Kavi have stood up by my side against anyone and everyone who tried to undermine me. (Their cover-up for that little slip was that only they have the right to bring about my downfall…kids I tell you!)

I remember my sister coming to me and telling me about her first boyfriend and how I threatened to make his life miserable if he ever broke her heart (it was a good thing for him that when that happened I was in Pune).

But the point is, that no matter how annoying they are, you just can’t imagine a life where they don’t exist. There would be no fun to it, or any memorable moments, be it good or bad, without them. Because you love them, their mistakes and all and they love you too. It’s an unspoken universal truth, which is denied a lot (especially by my sisters), and yet never goes away. So now if you’ll excuse me I am going to go and show my sisters how much I love them in the age-old sibling tradition way…chasing them around the dining table again!

The End Is Near, My Friend

With the countdown already started, I have just two more days to complete my internship. Throughout this journey, near and dear ones have asked me how I found my experience working at the Indian Express. I could never answer them in just one word back then but now I can – ‘unexpected’.
Nothing about working at the Indian Express was like what I expected. Before joining, I thought that I would have to be very formal and business-like, just do my business and get out. I didn’t think that I would be treated any better than a peon from the stories that I had heard from other interns. I thought I was going to have a miserable time.
On my first day at office I was asked to cover an exhibition which was surprising because I had told them that I had no experience whatsoever in the field. But my lady boss, Preetha, told me that she was confident I could do it. I covered the event as best as I could and went back to the office to write and submit my article. This would have been around 1:30 pm and I thought that I would have to hang around till 4 pm, which was when the feature-writing department closed down. But upon seeing me aimlessly typing on the computer, Preetha explained that I was only expected to do my work and that as soon as it was done I was free to leave regardless of what time it is.
On other days, when I used to wait to get my next assignment, the casual air in the office struck me. Everyone was relaxed and joking around, taking break almost every half an hour to chat and gossip. Snacks and tea was served at regular intervals throughout. They were like a family and they accepted me very easily, treating me very much like an equal and not an intern.
The assignments I got, made me meet different kinds of people and made me learn how to interact with new people, how to be inquisitive without being intrusive, how to be friendly and yet professional, how to meet deadlines without feeling harried or stressed, how to be creative while writing and yet be short and to the point. It also taught me how to utilize my time when I’m jobless, for example, I am writing this post while I am in office waiting for my next assignment.The reason as to why I really loved working here was that it was never a waste of my time. I was never stuck in office doing absolutely nothing, or if I had nothing to do I was sent back home. It was a complete polar opposite of what I faced in my NGO internship and it definitely is an experience that I am not going to forget anytime soon.

Home Away From Home

You have a good life at home…a good life in school…good friends…good boyfriend/girlfriend. Life’s good and you couldn’t have asked for better. And then that fateful day comes when you leave school and it hits you, that everything in your life is heading towards a change.
You feel like you’re isolated in this new city and college until you make a startling revelation. Your batchmates feel the same way as you do! It’s the same back in your hostels or flats. Your roommates are strangers to you but then they too are new to this strange place and the fact that you live together means that you make efforts to get to know them better.
Days go by and these strangers become acquaintances, and then friends. You go through the headaches of assignments, deadlines, exams, faasos, disgusting mess food, TNGs, faculty that drives you up the wall, fights and make-ups, couples and break-ups, but they don’t really sour everything for you.
Then the end of the first semester ends and everyone’s excited to go back home! You give hugs and kisses to your parents and siblings and say that nothing is as good as being back home. Then a week or so later, you realize that you’re feeling a little off. There is just something missing. You go on facebook and then you realize what that ‘something’ was. You miss your life back in college.That’s when everybody realizes that home is no longer home. At least not completely. For now each person has two homes, one back at home and the other back in pune. And we also realize that through all the love and hatred shared in college, we have discovered our second family – our friends – that we just stand being apart from and yet take for granted once they’re around. Ironic isn’t it.

Choices

Well I have to admit that we do have a lot of choices in anything and everything. We can choose between the options we have for a T.V, or a refrigerator. We can choose whether we want to do the laundry or not. We can choose to get married or stay single. We can choose to work or stay unemployed. Well you know what I mean.

Even if you are being held hostage, with a gun being waved right in front of your face, you still have a choice. How, you ask? Well you do have the choice to disobey and get killed or to cooperate and not get shot at, or still get shot at.

Hey! I never mentioned that the choices would be good – just that there is still a choice of action. But on a more serious note, be it with advanced technology and growth or the basic necessities for living like clothes food, shelter and water, or even down to the morals and values instilled in us, we have a variety of choices.

We also have the choice to make the better choice. Does that make any sense to you? It should, but just in case, let me explain. In all the choices given to us, one or some of the choices are good for us(or just good generally) while the others are bad. Now we have the choice to make the choice that will be better for us, or we can also make the choice of choosing the choice that is bad for us.

For instance, let us take a cheating husband. Now he has a loyal wife back at home and a woman, say maybe a newly acquired friend. Both women are interested in him and both willing to do anything for him. Now the man had two options in front of him – one being that he could ignore his woman friend’s interest in him as other than a friend and return to his loyal wife, and the second being that he could ignore his loyal wife back at home and engage the time of his new woman friend. Well he chose the latter and as we all know from the various accounts we have all heard about cheating husbands, he chose a choice that was bad for him. What was the reason for it? Maybe it was temptation, maybe he wasn’t satisfied with his wife, maybe he does not have any willpower, maybe t the time the choice seemed better to him and maybe he’s not man enough to stand up to his vows. It could be anything. But he had his choices and he made his decision so he will have to live with his consequences.

That brings us to the next step of making a choice – the consequences. Every choice that one makes always has a reaction. Now that reaction can be positive or negative depending on your choice and the situation in which that choice was made. Sometimes, the reaction can be both, but with different life spans.

Let us go back to the cheating husband. Now in my opinion, he would have gotten a positive and a negative response to his choice. A positive reaction in the sense that he would get nicely laid by his new woman friend and yet have a nice loyal wife to back home to. A negative response when his wife ultimately find out about his extra-marital affairs. Also a negative reaction, if he decides to dump this new woman friend in order to salvage his marriage.

Unfortunately in our country, the people can’t seem to figure out what their choices are. They are too narrow-minded to see that there are a whole lot of choices to choose from ad the judicial program does not enforce the consequences on those with the bad choices. Hence we face a lot of problems in the development of the country such as corruption, blackmail and what not. If a politician’s kid chooses to kill somebody just because they are annoyed with the person, then they do so and get away with it. Why? Because their father is a politician, who can pay through his nose in order to see that his kid does not face any consequences. This way parents are also to blame. They spoil their kids and by trying to ‘protect’ them, they wind up indirectly teaching them that the kids can do whatever they feel like doing and not worry about any after effect, as “mommy and daddy will deal with it”. The younger generation is not told that certain rules are to be maintained and certain people to be given their due respect regardless of their own status in society. How on earth are we to move forward in life, when we cannot instill any values in the generation after us? How on earth are our lives going to improve, when the basic cycle of karma is being ignored?