World Cup Bug

Has it bitten you as well? It has, to me and millions of others! Everywhere it's cricket, scores, matches, heart breaks, celebrations, bets, predictions, tweets, posts, articles and on and on and on. Now that India has reached semi final and going to play Pakistan, everyone is looking forward to it! Each and every cricket fan knows how important the clash is. Tony Greig said that he wouldn't want to miss a single ball of that match! Who would?

Like always, various brands have made so many ads around WC theme, hiring top line players (top line as I didn't see Munaf Patel or Nehra in any ad. are they there too?). I am sure if you watch WC matches then you must have seen those ads too - Pepsi ads - the official sponsor of helicopter shot, ungli mein tingli - dusra, Malinga's slinga, Sehwag's Upar shot and what not! Then there is parryware ad, Nike ad - bleed blue, Ruffles Lays ad, Idea Ads - I wish corporates would spend this money on employees than such useless pursuits!

But, like they say, it's easy to sit, comment and criticize than be there and make a decision! Yeah, right!

By the way, it's earth hour right now. That means we have to turn off all the lights, electronic appliances etc. for an hour. Someone put it very nicely on twitter: "@MihirBijur: Earth Hour to a nation suffering from Load shedding is like calling a fat woman, gravitationally challenged. all fancy but full of shit!". I think on a similar line too!

Tweet reminds me the time we have during India matches. It's fun bashing cricketers, posting about the game, reading the opinion, those tensed moments at the end of the match - if you follow right kind of people, you will have much more fun watching the match and no, it is NOT a distraction for the match!

India's entry to Semis have ensured that there is enough of spamming everywhere. Facebook has come up with a stupid application where you have to take a poll. Each and every person is taking it and spamming. As if it would actually decide who will win. Guria correctly said that Indian population is more than that of Pakistan's. So naturally the result will be in the favour of India.

Apart from the WC matches, my dissertation is keeping me busy. I have to write 200 pages on a topic that has 10 page info in the textbook. sigh! Life can be so cruel at times. Work, assignments, match - everything together. I am in demand!!

And, someone asked me whether twitter will replace blogs or not? My answer was no. It cannot and won't. Yes, people around me have become irregular, but twitter is NOT the reason behind it. Ah I should have chosen Twitter World Cup as the header!

Euthanasia in Aruna's case - Just or Unjust?

I know I am like ages late for writing on this topic. Call it my sheer laziness, or my dislike for writing on similar topics or any other reason, but I have never blogged about such things in the past. This post is a result of a discussion that took place on a friend's blog. Read on to know more if you are interested!

I have been reading about Aruna's case everywhere - Blogs, newspaper, twitter - and more than 90% of the views are that of favouring Euthanasia in her case. The Hon. Supreme Court thinks otherwise though. It rejected Pinki Virani's Petition that asked the court to allow passive euthanasia in Aruna's case by removing the food pipe. I read a post by a friend Pal on her blog. Click here to read it. I posted my views there as comments. Pasting the same here:

Me: do you seriously think her life should be ended by removing the pipe that supplies her food? that too on the basis of a petition filed by a “next” friend? I know when we look at the whole case emotionally, we feel pity, anger and frustration; but for that, can we twist the laws? If law is twisted here, do you know how many people will opt for euthanasia?

Pal: I definitely think so, Neha. Why do you think there will be a huge number of people opting for euthanasia? Nobody wants to die. Everybody wants to live. Only the most desperate will want to think of this.

Me: Let’s not be case specific here. rather let’s have a proper law in place for such a case..euthanasia should be administered, but there has to be a specific law and procedure for the same.

Pal: Yes, then we need to have well structured laws around this. But not legalising this is even worse!

Me: give you a simple example Pal – no matter how sick one is; maybe suffering from aids, cancer or anything, that person tries his level best to live and survive. only we have the right to choose our life and death..no third person can decide that on our behalf. a cancer and aids patient is too going through so much pain, but still there is a hope to live as much as he can..law clearly says that you can’t take away what you can’t give back!

Pal: That is not right, Neha. A person can choose ONLY WHEN HE/SHE IS CAPABLE OF CHOOSING. What about a person who is virtually brain-dead, cannot sit or stand on their own, cannot even speak, cannot eat or drink? Cannot even breathe properly? How do you think he will communicate his desire to live or to die? There are extreme cases and I think our laws need to be robust enough to meet them and take a call on such severe situations.
 

Me: I know she is living a horrible life, I know she is going through hell at this moment and I even know that her brain cannot think, but taking away her life without her or her family’s consent and that too by removing the feeding pipe – won’t that be a crueler death too?  

Pal: I infact fully support ACTIVE euthanasia itself. Btw, are you serious??? Euthanasia is more cruel than letting her live like a vegetable?? Please don’t take this personally, but I would LIKE TO ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION THAT PINKI VIRANI ASKED ON TV – Would you like to spend even one minute in Aruna’s position? Is it kindness for people (NOT FAMILY) to ‘keep you alive’??? Would it not be more kind to allow you to die in dignity?

And what do you mean by FAMILY? The blood relatives are nowhere in the picture. How rigid can the law be? How blind?!!

Me: we sometimes have to think out of the emotional box..as a lawyer, I completely agree and welcome the supreme court judgment..the person who filed the petition does not have any legal stand to file the case at the first place..then how can court issue an order for euthanasia?  

Pal: This is exactly how ridiculous our law is!! As a lawyer, what do you think of the punishment for Sohanlal? That is technically right? Two 7 year sentences, that too running parallely, so he is fully free to go at the end of the 6th year (since he already spent 1 year in prison). LAW IS TECHNICALLY RIGHT HERE. But does it make any sense?? I am sorry, you may be a lawyer and welcome the court’s decision, but as a HUMAN BEING, what do you think?
 

Me: I may get a few hate replies and thumbs down for this comment, but these are my views purely! I do not intend to hurt anybody’s sentiments!  

Pal: No question of hurting anybody’s sentiments, Neha, we are just discussing something serious here, and each person takes a stand , that’s all. 

Me: one more point – Pinki Virani is the author of the book based on Aruna’s life..the SC would have first determined her stand – next friend is someone who is not a family or relative, but a closely related person for the petitioner..Pinki didn’t even know Aruna before her this state..second, just think from another perspective..if her petition was not rejected, imagine how many reprints her book would have gone for? she has a personal interest in this case..Aruna’s family has not filed the petition, someone else has..from court’s point of view, the euthanasia must not be granted and that’s what the court did!
 

Pal: Agreed, Aruna’s family has not filed the petition, because they have abandoned her years ago!!
 

Me: Ah, lawyers have to think beyond emotions you know..it’s difficult, but that’s how it is!  

Pal: No, I don’t agree with that, Neha. Law is meant to facilitate justice and not block it. To state a rule like that is ridiculous, to say the least!!!! What is the use of such laws, that are just words and no common sense?????

Me: Pal, you are too missing the crucial point that the court made – I know she is in a vegetative state, but does she want to die? I know I know you will say that she cannot think, but isn’t it wrong to kill someone even if that person may want to live? And Aruna is not brain-dead. so what if the chances are .00001% but there are chances right? in one of the debates that i saw on TV, everything got stuck there. Right now we may right in our will/wishlist that kill us if we go in such a state; but do we know how do we feel when we are actually in that state? 

no matter how much one says or thinks, no matter what you feel about a case, you cannot decide who has the right to live or die except for that person! and if at that time the person is not in a state to think or decide, you can’t be a godfather or a godmother to that person, period!

About punishing Sohanlal, he has been punished once. I am not saying it was fair or just or ridiculous; but he has been convicted once and as per the law, you cannot convict a person twice for the same offense. Whatever one says or believes, Law is Supreme and we are not above it!

Two years and counting..

Neha's Blog completes two years today. It has been a wonderful journey for me so far with 180 posts on board (phew!), 5242 comments (really?) and many followers. Though I do not have as many readers as i used to have as I rarely get time to update my blog; and very little time to comment on other blogs even though I read, I don't get more than 5-6 comments per post. Does it matter? Ah, let me leave it unsaid :)

This blog has given me not only the fancy numbers, but even wonderful friends. I can even say that I have met quite a few of them thanks to bloggers' meet, interact with so many on personal level thanks to messengers and other social networking sites.

It right now feels weird to write a post on blog happy birthday. I love birthdays, and I love wishes too. But writing about something that reflects a part of you which only you can read and understand is almost as good as writing about yourself. But what the heck, I can at least thank people in a celeb way even though I am not. This day gives me a chance to thank all those who have been with me and for me in this journey of blogging as well as life. 

Starting with Chandana - my first reader and a friend, Nazish, Shrikant, Shilpa Garg, Swatantra, Kavi, SG, , B. K. Chowla, Saroj, Ugich Konitari, Vivek, Nu or Scribbler or Scribby (ah, so many pseudonyms you have girl :P), Avada Kedavra, Pal, SM, Saurabh, Karthik, Holy Lama, Destiny's Child, G3, Sravanthi (who is a very close friend first and then a blogger/reader), Neha Kapoor and everyone who has ever read this stupid and boring blog and tolerated my rants. Please forgive me if I have forgotten any names here.

Last but not the least, I want to thank a few people who have become a part of my life even though we have met or not met for that matter through this virtual world:

Merlin - I thank blogworld for giving me this amazing gift. He is been the greatest friend one could ever ask for.

Guria - Do I even need to write anything about this girl? She is my soul sister and I love her.

Insignia - I ping her for anything and everything. She tolerates my moods, tantrums and always there.

Vidhu - Though she seldom reads me, she has been a great support system for me when I actually needed one.

I know I don't have to thank these four people at all (ah, the mean me wakes up suddenly), but still, acknowledging them and mentioning them specially on a special day is the least I can do for them.

Happy Birthday to Neha's :)

PS: Call it my sheer laziness or whatever, I have not hyperlinked any blog here. But I am sure you can all understand that :) It's a tedious job!

Big Deal? huh!

I know I know, it's a stupid header, but I didn't know what else to write in the title box. Anyway, it's my blog and my space and I have the right to write any crap I want so far as I don't defame anybody directly! 

Reason behind this post - there is an interesting discussion going on on facebook. It's a private mail conversation so I am sorry, none of you will get a chance to see it, but don't be sad. There is nothing you are missing out on. Really! There is a new notification (of 2009) issued by the government of India for regulating blogs and bloggers. It says nothing new apart from a few things like blogs should not defame anybody, or post pornographic content or violate any intellectual property rights of the owner. Isn't that a common sense matter anyway?

Leaving aside porn stuff which even I am against posting, I know so many blogs who keep defaming famous people. Forget famous people, infamous souls like me get defamed too. And I feel proud of it as people waste their time and energy in thinking and blogging about me, making me more famous.

Let's accept this fact guys - we are NOT famous bloggers. Nobody gives a damn about what we write and post. Wake up from the slumber and face the reality. NOBODY is going to detain you for blogging. Forget detention, they won't even bother to click on your blog page. Whom are we kidding by going ga ga over this trivial issue?

If someone really needs to fret, it's the famous bloggers like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Faking News, Fake IPL player etc. whose blogs are quoted in newspapers, news channels and other media. People like us who write about ourselves usually, don't need to worry. Again, most of us are under the anonymity hood. I rarely read any post that directly attacks an individual who is famous and has a goodwill that runs into crores. Then why make it a big deal? Rather, why make it a deal at all? We have better and more important issues to gossip about and waste our opinion on. 

In fact, you should feel proud that now Blogs and Bloggers are "legally defined" in law books. Congratulations. We finally have a legal identity and proper status (like it matters!). So chill.

Now please don't post any defaming comments on my blog or write about me. I am seriously not so important. Include me in your hate list - I don't mind, but keep it to yourself strictly!

PS: Those who want to read this notification, please google it. I have no intention of becoming an encyclopedia for you!

Known Unknown

Disclaimer: This is something I wrote a few months back and it was lying in the drafts so far. Today when I think of the day I wrote this, it makes my belief stronger in the phrase - This too shall pass. Mind you, this is not the current state of my mood right now. I am publishing it as I don't want my efforts to go wasted because of non-publishing of a piece of bull crap.

Do things have to make sense all the time? If yes, then do not read this post. It is not meant for you if you think that way!

I am feeling dead depressed. Reason - I know. But my heart is not ready to accept it. It's like losing everything all over again. I am too weak to face one more failure. The biggest one. This time my heart and my mind - both are saying the same thing, still I do not want to accept the truth. I feel too comfortable in my shell. And this very shell is going to destroy me one day, but at this moment I feel secure there. It keeps me hidden from the truth that's there outside, the truth I know but I do not want to accept, the truth that will give me only hurt in the end. I will face it when my shell destroys me. I know I will have to face it; but until then, I am happy being blind, dumb and deaf.

How easy it is to believe something that's not real. Difficult is to accept the reality. All said and done, you make mistakes unknowingly, you may still be able to come out of that; but when you are making a mistake knowingly, even after being fully aware about the outcome of it, then nothing can stop you from getting destroyed. Your shell will have to burst one day. You will be broken beyond repair; and the worst thing will be that you would have known that all along.

I am in a pretty weird mood. I have never been so pessimistic in life ever. Maybe because life always made sure that I fall and I fall so hard on the ground that I cannot ever stand up on my feet. But I have always defeated life. I have had worst times, but I have been all alone facing those times. I have been tough, to an extent that I had become immune to the word problem or hurdle. I accepted my failures and never believed that I could win. I knew I had to live with this forever. And I even thought that this was the peak of my pessimism. So very wrong I was. I thought that a heart break is the worst pain anyone can ever face. But there are graver pains, worse hurts, and they destroy you beyond repair. Have you ever experienced your soul getting hurt? Hurt is a small word. The feeling of your soul getting ripped apart cannot be expressed at all. It does not leave any marks behind. It cannot. Where will it leave the marks? There is nothing left of you, nothing at all.

I am going there. I know what will happen to me. But I am still going there. I was always going towards it, but so far, I had not realized it. But now I know my fate. The only good thing is that I have a reason to smile these days. A reason good enough to get me going happily. All I can do is to pray that the smile lasts till I reach there...