Writing is Fun!!

Here is my entry for MissMalini Megahaul Contest

I started my blog around 4 years back when my life was in middle of twists and turns. There were lot of things which went through my mind and couldn’t express to anyone. My friends were busy in their life and there was not much for them to help me out. It was new city, Mumbai, new life with my partner and new job profile. I was caught in a web where nothing could snatch me out of it.

I remember my neighbour telling me about a blog she would read the first thing in morning. She asked me to read it once and soon it became addiction. It was so fun to read about joys and sorrows of that blogger. And one day I wrote her a mail expressing my regards to her and congratulating her on being such a good writer. She replied me back saying that writing is best way to vent out your thoughts. It was the day when I got inspired and started my blog ChirpyParo.

Initially there were lot of hesitations as to what to write and who all will be the readers. But very soon it became a habit. Writing any snippet, poem or a whole long page for the blog relieved me of my thoughts. I made new friends through it. Blogging explored me to a whole new world with introduction to various people and their thinking process.

I realised that life is not easy for anyone. Each one deals with their troubles, problems and struggles. Each day brings a new promise to life. Every night we need to realise that it is the youngest we ever would be and eldest we have been. Writing blog or even scribbling random thoughts on paper clears your mind and allows more positive thinking with rational approach to solve the issues. Friends would encourage by writing their comments and giving their solutions and opinions.

Though after becoming mother of two I rarely get time now to write a blog, but I have taken writing as a professional career. I have been writing articles for various websites and magazines. Writing for me now is fun. Currently one of my baby is in my lap and other is learning alphabets next to me, but still I can write this blog since it’s just uninterrupted thoughts which flow like water.  Thanks for the lovely blogger who helped me get into this field. Will be grateful to her always!

The End of Bollywood Era

Last 10 years have been significant in the development of the Bollywood industry. It has evolved into a mature industry with sophisticated story-telling mechanism. No longer is it just a potpourri of action, drama, romance with top stars in industry, but the larger segment of the country has fallen in trap of the core concept of movies: The Story. 

With directors like Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, a new page is being written in books of Bollywood. Recent movies like, Kahani, The Dirty Picture, Shanghai and Chillar Party have proved the fact that it’s the story which drives the audience to movie theatre and not just glamorous lead cast. We have seen movies like Agneepath, Agent Vinod, Ra.One shatter into glass pieces even with large marketing budgets, scenic beauty and topmost stars of the film industry.

I respect the people who say that the movies are for entertainment and not to leave the audience crying and with heavy heart. But illusion can’t last long. With honour killings in North India who would believe in the stories where a rich girl falls in love with a taxi driver and lives happily after. In country where people shoot the videos when a girl is being molested, who would watch the story of Rowdy Rathore. Karan Johar and the likes have always lived in a fantasy world, where they have personal chefs, a wardrobe full of Gucci, Prada and a house with a fleet of cars at their disposal.

Slumdog Millionaire showed the real slum life of Mumbai, it was appreciated worldwide; but certain genre of people criticized it as well for being too honest. What is wrong if they told us that kids are kidnapped and handicapped thereafter to beg on traffic signals? It’s an absolute truth. We all know that. But we don’t want to face it. With an altogether unconventional story-telling, there is also a group of actors who are the future face of Bollywood. Their superb performance and cinematic talents they have changed the face of acting. Let’s see some of these actors’ profiles:

1. Vidya Balan: I remember her as the geeky gal in the ever so popular television series, Hum

Paanch, and then sudden transformation to a beautiful dignified woman in Parineeta, eventually winning the Best Lead Actress Award. She was criticised badly for her dressing and demeanour in Heyy Baby and Kismet Konnection. But this lady proved all her critiques wrong, with her over the top acting in Bhool Bhulaiyaa followed by a young independent single mother in Paa, a sexually manipulative wife in Ishqiya and finally real life projection of Sabrina Lal and Silk in the movies No one Killed Jessica Lal and The Dirty Picture. Her extraordinary performance and finesse in the role assured her wining accolades all over the country and her first National Award. She has rewritten the fate of a lead actress in Hindi

Cinema to a complete powerful persona in the story. She is one lady to watch for!

2. Abhay Deol: He comes from the family where movies meant Action. Being a nephew of

Dharmendra and cousin of Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, we expected the same old movie with “2.5 kilo ka haath” and shouting for justice. But things were different. Movies like Socha na Tha, Ahista Ahista and then Ek Chalis ki Last Local showed us he was from a different genre. And then released the movie Oye Lucky lucky Oye brilliantly shot in a miniscule budget. Abhay Deol changed the Bollywood definition of thriller movies in Manorama Six Feet Under. Dev D was another successful venture which defined Abhay Deol as “The New Face of Indian Cinema”. Anurag Kashyap created a whole new version of Devdas and Abhay Deol stood perfectly well in character of Dev, the rich spoilt brat of Delhi.

Abhay Deol has an uncanny ability to fall into the skin of character.

3. Manoj Bajpai: He started his career with television series. His role as Bhikhu in Satya was most appreciated. He broke the norms of heroes dressed in branded clothes and entrance in a sports car. His dark character in Aks proved to be a major breakthrough in his career. Shool, Zubeida and Pinjar were movies of experimental cinemas where he stood strong. Latest movie, Gangs of Wasseypur, set up in Dhanbad, won him the National Award. We all are eagerly waiting for the second part of Gangs of Wasseypur.

4. Ranbir Kapoor: Why him in this contemporary kind of cinema article? I agree Ranbir started as a Rom-Com hero, but his latest performance in Rajneeti and Rockstar took a U-turn in his career. He was described as a Volcano of Kapoor family in newspapers after release of Rajneeti. Though Rockstar wasn’t that great movie, but it was worth watching to   see the acting of Ranbir. His latest venture is Barfi with Priyanka Chopra where he is playing a role of a deaf and dumb person.

5. Amir Khan: Last but not the least, this Khan has changed the Bollywood cinema and now, television watching. He has stood with time and from his Qyamat se Qyamat Tak to Sarforsh, and then Lagaan, Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen Par. He broke all box office records and gave movies a breakthrough commercial success. The topics discussed in movies were never ever thought of before and still people appreciated them. Satyamev Jayat brought into limelight the social burning issues right from female foeticide to pesticide ridden food. He represents the face of new age of Bollywood.


 

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Quick and healthy salads

If you are trying to lose weight, and are bored of boiled vegetables or sprouts with lemon dressing, or are looking for some interesting variations of salad that you can serve to kids, try these four mouth watering salads that are really easy to make, and are low in calories and high on nutrition:

1. Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Pasta (boiled)                    - 1 cup

Capsicum                          - 1 piece

Carrot                                - 1 piece

Onion                                -1 piece

Cheese (cut into cubes)

Mayonnaise                       - 1 tbsp

Curd                                      - 3 tbsp

Cut all the vegetables in small dice shapes. Mix mayonnaise with curd and stir well. Now mix veggies, cheese and pasta with the curd. Add pepper powder as per you taste. Keep it in fridge for an hour and serve cold. You can add coriander leaves to decorate.

Tip- Adding curd prevents use of mayonnaise, thus less fat. 

2. Crunchy Nut Salad

Ingredients
Cucumber  - 1
Carrot - 1

Onion (Diced) – 1

Peanuts - ½ cup

Almonds - ½ cup

Dates and raisins - ½ cup

Mayonnaise - 1 tbsp

Curd - 1 cup

Crush peanuts and almonds roughly. Add dates and raisins in it. Mix curd and mayonnaise well and add to the nuts. Finely chop the cucumber and carrot in dices and add them to the above mixture. You can add salt and pepper if needed.  

3. Banana Salad

Ingredients:

Banana - 2 whole

Tomato -2 roughly chopped

Cumin powder  - ½ tsp

Salt     - as per taste

Lemon Juice  - 1 tbsp

Sugar   - 1 tbsp

Chop bananas into chunk and add tomato to it. Now add the salt, sugar and cumin powder. Pour the lemon juice and decorate with peanuts and coriander. 

4.Chickpea Salad:

Ingredients:

Chickpea           - 2 cup

Cottage Cheese - 150 grams

Onion                - 1

Green Chilly     - 1 Finely Chopped

Tomato              -1

Lemon juice      - 2 tbsp

Coriander leave - few to decorate

Soak the chickpeas overnight and boil them. Chop the onion and tomato finely. Cube the paneer into small pieces. Mix all of them and add chilly and lemon juice. You can salt as per you taste. Decorate with coriander leaves.

A common myth is that chickpeas are full of carbohydrates and increase fat content in your body. In fact, chickpeas are rich source of zinc and proteins. Infact they are healthy source of food for diabetic person and pregnant ladies.

The post was originially written for http://beashealthliving.com. The Bea’s Knees is a one stop place for health tips, diets, fitness and exercise tips, home and gardening, pets, childcare, fashion, gadgets, movies, music, relationships, and life-cheats.

Hindi Hai Hum

Reading "Discovery of India" is a must if you really want to know how Asia developed and untold stories of India's culture. The word “Hindu” was never meant to be associated with any cast or creed. It was merely used by Old Persia to refer the subjects staying on the other side of river Indus, then called The Sindhu. India was then referred to as a Nobel Land (Aryadesh), Land of Aryans, in various communities.

Hinduism is a difficult word to define and definitely can’t be associated with any religion. It stands on the spirit of live and let live. Mahatma Gandhi defined it as “Search after truth through non-violent means.” This clearly shows that even a man who doesn’t believe in any form of Shiv, Vishnu, Brahma can still be a Hindu. Hindu was derived from the word “Hind”, meaning the Hindustan. So anybody who has adapted himself to stay in Hindustan could be told a Hindu, whether its Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. In old centuries, people lived to survive and not to decide the religion they would follow. It was the struggle for food and shelter. The fear of wild animals forced many number of people to stay close by and burn the fire on the boundaries. Unlike now where fires are used to burn the slum areas to clear a particular cast and get the land freed.

If British wouldn’t have started the divide and rule policy, there would had been no partition. They ripped the Golden bird and left a bird caught in a cage with torn wings. We would not have been just a developing country but a Developed and strong nation with a mix of culture, education, traditions and tehzeeb. Burqa has been associated with Muslim females, but it even existed in any Indian family. Ladies were not supposed to talk to any male member and in case they have to, then their face should be covered with dupatta. Not that I am advocating the purdah system. But I want to bring out the similarities between the two tribes which have been friends for long and now are the biggest enemies.

We all see how Americans and Europeans are adopting our culture, the Yoga Asanas, The Hare Ram Hare Krishna, Mutton Biryanis or the Indian Curries. We are dragging ourselves to enjoy festivals like Tomatino, which is just an extension of Holi. Words like Briyani, Bindi, Nose rings, Saris, Karva Chauth now don’t need an explanation to any foreigner. While travelling from Bangkok to India I met a French person. He said he has been religiously visiting Haridwar every year and has fallen in love with it. Being an Indian I have just visited the land of Haridwar only once. How many of us appreciate our parents when they ask us to take an off and go to Chardham ki Yatra? But if the travel agent will say he will be sending us for a trek to snowy mountains and a river rafting in Ganga, we all will make an attempt to go.

It is not our about religion, but the culture. We were being brought up in joint families, where every meal was a fest with a lavish menu of food. Be it the Diwali or the Ramzan, we associate any festival with new clothes and delicious food. Just like every person has different thought process, can’t every religion have its own rituals? Because of some dirty politics around the world, India has divided and people living in it will slowly grow much more apart. We need to stabilize it and fight against it. Need to search the true meaning of LIFE!

Bi&^hing about B#$ches

Women are blessed with loads of qualities. They love unconditionally, they forgive, they care, and they multitask. But they have one unique thing ...they love BITCHING.  It’s their inherent gender thing. No one can take that away from them. No matter much a lady would deny and say she hates bitching but she would do. If two women are talking with each other for more than 15 minutes then atleast there would be one person in the world who is being discussed there. And of course we know nothing positive about him/her.

My 'boy' friend list has always outnumbered the opposite gender. Though, I have done my engineering from an all-girls college, my favourite friends were guys from other colleges. With girls around me I always felt dumb and boring. Boys have a different genre of talking. Though, I must say boys’ loves gossiping, but then it is different. They would discuss the latest cars, stock market, and the girl with the best "butt". And it surely is funnier.

Once I shifted to this new society, I was surrounded by a gang of ladies. And since my MIL is a little (read Very Much) social, she insisted me to join them. And soon I was caught in a web of social networking bitching females. They have only three topics to discuss. Number one: Food, Number two: Husband/Sex and Number three: Bitching.

So, A and B are back biting about C on day 1. The next day even D joins them with more updates about how C keeps her house dirty. Now this poor C has been away for vacation for 10 days. One whole week goes into discussing the every damn thing about C, even her sex life. Once C is back, she invites everyone at her home for a cuppa of tea. Everyone is ready to go to her place in best of attires. C shows all her shopping, the pics, tells about all the fun they had. She gives everyone some chocolates which she had bought for them from her “phoren” trip. Everyone is gleaming with joy until C announces her special love for A and gifts her, an extra box of chocolate. Suddenly, everyone is much more focussed on A and running behind their brains is all the secrets about A which can be shared. From next day, C will get all sorts of delicacies made by A especially for her and C will also join others in bitching about A.

This is how it goes, in and out daily. The group changes, the season changes, but bitching never. I so much hope to get out of this shit. But then, I am a female gender.

Words

Words are everywhere
The long words,
The short words,
The words which are forever.

Can the words define
The first stare,
The first kiss,
Morning chirp of the lovebird,
Rainbow in between the high rise,
Smell of the soil after the first rain,
The sight of dancing peacock on the way,
The memories of friends
who would steal food from the mess,
Sleeping in the arms of the beloved
after a bad day.

We fall short of words
But some words dont exist
I close my eyes
And see the pain take a flight
Left with a pen in hand
and Joy in heart

Daemons

Last few days I have been pondering over and over again about my life. Its true that you can never relive your past, but then one can never erase the past as well. It is always behind my back, making fun of me when I cry over the wrongs I do. It makes me feel pathetic when I shout at him, assuring myself, I have a promising future. And the worst part is I never want to forget my past. It has memories of my best days which uptil now were my strength to fight this horrible world. Oh gosh... I feel so bad to run back at time and make some amends. But then what amends? Do I really need to make some corrections. Everything was correct and is correct. I keep giving explanations to myself that there is nothing I could have done. Everything I had, was ruined with totally no fault of mine. Why the hell do I need to say that to myself?

I have been awake all night
Turning and turning
It all had happened in a flash
I had done all the rights that were wrong
Somebody tell me what the wrongs were

It was like a breeze in scorching summer
A laugh that made my day
The hand to hold me tight
A dream that would never come true.

The remains are a skeletal lying in a coffin
No air to breath
No sun to shine
Dug deep in the earth

Will anything ever change?
Do fairytales exist?
Would an angel come and kiss her?
Will he ever find it?