Skip to main content

Building a Fake World - Good Luck to the future!

Don't talk about religion, you will be called extremist.

Don't talk about gays, you will be called sexist.

Don't talk about color, you will be called racist.

Don't talk about country, you will be called jingoist.

Don't talk about women, you will be called chauvinist.

Today we live in the world where we have to think so much before we speak. 

Anything you speak out of free will with no ill intentions are being held against you in the name of harassment or being offensive. But I fail to understand why? 

Literally, in today's world you CANNOT have an honest and open conversation of substance in public. Everything is controversial or a sensitive topic. Which leaves us with nothing but small talks about burgers, dresses or ketchup. (that sounds messed up, and that's how I feel today)

Why?


I was in a meeting earlier this week, where we were reviewing an org chart, and my VP (an American) suggests a correction in that pictorial representation which had 3-4 colors depicting various teams "And move that black person to next block. Oh okay, I should not have said, scratch it off, just move that next to green person over to next block."

This is not the first time I have seen people being apologetic for something so innocent and unintentional as this.

I totally understand that we have to be vigilant about it when we are in presence of that generation who have felt the burnt of it. When the word black was used offensively, and whenever they hear that word, it unsettles them. But the folks who really make a huge deal out of it, don't even know what it feels like; but for sure - every white is now trained to be way too cautious not to use the term. 

Everything has to be so politically correct these days. EVERYTHING - whether it's a movie or an art or a figure of speech; it's just way too much emphasis on what others will feel. It's getting so refined that there is no longer any honesty, any substance, any true feeling in conversations.

Everyone is trying to be diplomatic. It's just a fake world filled with phobic-centric people.

One of my workout partner says - it's like going back in time. We fought so hard to get the freedom. And there's all this emphasis and rules today on how NOT to use that freedom. 

True. For me, it just doesn't make sense. I am not advocating people to be offensive. All I am saying is not to be apologetic for having a view, to have the freedom to share what one feels without having to worry about hurting someone's glass like ego. Stop labeling every teeny weeny thing as a hate speech - it's a strong word, and just because our opinions differ on a particular topic, doesn't make one a terrorist and another a saint.

It's like people are apologetic for who they are, and the underdogs try to send people around them on a guilt trip at every chance they get. 

Well, I for one would like to stay away from this fake world. I would prefer an open debate in a bar on any so-called sensational topics over a friendly fake chit-chat. (Even if that means throwing beer on one another’s face than having a fake smile. Raw emotions are what makes us real.)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Favorite Read - 6 - The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev (and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer)

So, now that I want to get into some serious mountaineering activities, I started with reading books on mountains. When you check for top few books on mountains the one that comes up is " Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer " followed by “  The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev" ; both based on the 1996 Everest disaster which was made quite controversial. I started with "Into Thin Air' and while I was reading, I was continuously in conflict with Jon's views. Mind you, my memory is pretty weak when it comes to remembering details of any story - whether its books or movies. I had watched few documentaries and the Everest movie based on this topic; but that was a while ago. when I started reading this book 2 weeks back, I had no background; you can say I was totally new to this story.  And yet, it was difficult for me to understand some of Jon's accusations or feelings.  But nevertheless, Jon's style of writing was amazing; he knew how to keep reader's...

Zindagi Gulzar Hai - A feast to ones eyes!

Today I am here to make a much interesting comparison of our current Indian TV industry with our neighboring country’s television industry. Interesting because I never thought I would ever engage in watching any of the Pakistan TV series/movies or listening to their music. My disinterest in Pakistan entertainment was not because of the tensed relationship with the country. But I myself am not a big fan of TV serials. The kind of drama that is filled in Indian TV Channels today is just exhausting and tiring to watch. I hardly follow any Indian TV series. When I visit home on vacation, I join my family in watching the program they watch and that’s how I keep myself updated with what is trending in the TV industry. I love listening to music and I listen to all genres of music. I did start listening to Pakistani music since last few years and have admired their music. Strings, Fuzon,  Kaavish, Jal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali, Parveen Abida, Quratulain Baloch and many ...

Ahamasmi Yodha - My First Tattoo

I finally did it. It isn’t a great achievement to show off, but for me it’s one more item on my bucket list getting fulfilled. So I am very happy about it. What did I do? Oh like I said nothing great – I just got my FIRST Tattoo  :) My first Tattoo Artist I had done a lot of research on it since last couple of months. I wanted to get it done on my birthday, but it somehow dint work out.  For all the first timers, I wanted to list out my personal experience, just in case it helps :) First of all, I felt it will be very helpful if you have some friends who would have got it done already. But I dint have that privilege. So I went through lot of blogs and articles in About.com, Wikihow, YahooAnswers etc… Well Google, the new lord of knowledge :) has all that you need to know. So, in summary, what I got from all these sites were First decide on what you want to get tattooed and where. Go over it again and again, since it is permanent, you will have to live ...

.. and that’s not a bad thing.

Today was a bright and beautiful day, so I chose to hit a close by trail with a friend. After about couple of hours of hiking, we found a peaceful spot in a shade by the lake. We were sitting and chatting away when a lady walked to us.   I had seen her standing and watching the horizon of the lake holding a bottle of water and her stance had not changed for quite a while. When she walked over I gave a friendly wave and started the conversation. That’s when I realized she wasn’t acting normal. She wasn’t speaking clearly and kept looking at my backpack asking “What have you got in there?”  Although it was a bit creepy, I did not feel threatened. I said it’s just my backpack here. She repeated the same question like 3-4 times “What’s in there?” So I humoured her, I said here’s my bottle, here’s my notebook and then thought maybe she was hungry. I dug in to retrieve a chocolate croissant (individually wrapped) and held it up saying “I’ve got this, interested?” She immediately re...

Life... A Blank Page!

Whenever I open a notebook and come across the set of blank pages; my mind goes blank. For some reason, it always reminds me of my life. It forces me to start thinking about my life; about the past and the future. Being part of the age of computers and belonging to the IT industry, I hardly get an opportunity to actually pick a pen and write in the notebook. I write lot of blogs, poems etc… but I write them on the webpage or in Microsoft word in my laptop.  Once in a while I like to go back to traditional form of writing; using the actual pen and paper. And in last few years; I noticed that every time I try doing that for some reason the blank paper gets me all philosophical.         Although I never have that thought while opening the book; but whenever I see those blank pages; I just go blank. I always feel that my life is staring back at me with all those unanswered silenced questions, doubts, thoughts…forcing me to think – What does my lif...

Why "Wake Up Sid" movie is my favorite :)

I am very selective about the Bollywood movies that I choose to watch. I don’t like the typical commercial, masaledar movies without any storyline, characters, screenplay and acting. Most of them are ruled out just by looking at the Name of the movie, its banner, its actors and director. And some which pass these filter criteria get eliminated when I watch their trailers. Very few end up in my watch list. And some movies I end up watching forcibly with my family or friends. Wake up Sid was one such movie, that I came across because my friends chose to watch that movie over tea 4 yrs back. We never completed watching that movie; couple of them found it boring and we got deviated from watching the movie into some other matargashti . I think 2 years back, when I was finding something to watch, I picked up this movie – just because I wasn’t finding anything appealing to watch. And I simply fell in love with this movie despite of its weak story. Konkana Sen is a talented actress ...

Love, Loss and Father's Day

I have been meaning to write this post for a while now, but somehow words fail me. I started writing, and stopped at the first two sentences, erasing and rephrasing, re-iterating the process every time I attempted to write this.  8 months later, today on Father’s day, I think I finally am able to put words into meaningful sentences.  It’s weird how most of the times, I just need an inspiration, an idea or a feeling to write pages together without any effort; and then there are times, when my mind is cluttered with so many thoughts ,eager to be put on paper that I find it hard to form a single straight sentence. But I feel like writing today, so here it goes. My best friend lost her mom to a health incident few months back. When I spoke to her she asked me how did I handle it when my dad passed away few years back. I could not explain it to her then, I just said you will learn to live through it. That was when I first tried to write this blog. Even after so many years, ...

Dear Dost

Dear Dost, I know you are dealing with a lot in life. A lot has happened in the past that has changed you. A lot is happening right now, that is forcing you to change. A lot of decisions you have to make that's exploding your brains.  You are multi tasking like some superhero. You have issues at home, in the family, in your personal life, that you are juggling with. You have professional problems that you are dealing with.  A lot - that's what's happening to you right now.  When I met you, I saw "a lot" has changed in you. I have changed too, and so have you. But what I could not ask you was - are you still you? I remembered Gulzar's words, written back in 1995 (atleast that's what the source says, I had listened to Jagjit Singh singing this, and it had registered in me since then).  din kuchh aise guzārtā hai koī  jaise ehsāñ utārtā hai koī  dil meñ kuchh yuuñ sambhāltā huuñ ġham  jaise zevar sambhāltā hai koī  aaina ...

Will be mine now ..forever...

Drops of rain fell from the dark cloud I wanted to get drenched in the rain and dance and play and swirl around But I could'nt for Mom scolded aloud Different colors of marbles spread around boys of the colony were getting together I wanted to join them and play but then it wasn't a girly thing on ground I sang aloud under the showers with broken lyrics and tune The next moment i heard a knock My roommate told don't disturb others I felt like having a cup of tea at 2:00 AM in the morning when I was awake watching a match and my friend called out "it's not time for tea" the drizzles and the colors of the marbles the tea and the singing shower will be mine now forever as I go on to choose my life - living it my way....

Uncovered, Not Exposed

After ages of procrastination, I finally decided to try formal art classes. I had always feared that rules would take the fun out of my art. Art is where I go to unwind and let my mind wander, and the idea of placing boundaries in that safe space never sat well with me. But this year, I signed up for weekend spring classes; telling myself to keep an open mind and take in only what resonated. I was intimidated - I didn't know if this would draw me deeper into art or push me away. To my surprise, it was overwhelming, but in the best possible way.  The reason for this post is however not to cover my art journey ( I have just started so I will give it some time to settle in ); but instead to capture my thoughts upon observing a profession in real life that I have only watched on screen -  Live nude models. And the quiet power of their bare form.  I spent an entire day observing nude male and female body for figure drawing, and it blew my mind in ways I had not expected. ...