Bliss

“I am a Literature graduate”. Every time I am asked to say something about myself, be it in an interview or elsewhere, this is usually the first thing I say about myself.  I do not say this to merely describe my qualification. They say that apart from your family and the society that you grow up in, schools play an important role in moulding your personality. I am sure they do but the way three years of Literature has shaped my personality I consider it nothing less than a part of my identity.  “Literature is not just verse and prose. It will take you on a ride of History, Sociology, Psychology and other different streams as well. Are you ready for it?” I still remember our HOD’s words on the day of my interview for the course.  “I am absolutely looking forward to it”, I said without fully understanding what he meant. But as I moved from one semester to the next I started comprehending the meaning of his words. Literature of any era is a reflection of life and society and...

Cricket is to India what soccer is to half of the world. Its not that we don't love the Beautiful game but an India-Srilanka final definitely takes precedence over an Italy-Slovakia game. So while the world was getting its headache from the vuvuzelas we discovered our very own vuvuzela, with a much higher irritation quotient, in Neo Cricket's ad sense. It was not a case of ads between the match but the other way round and when they did show the match half of the screen was still filled with ads! Fine, its understood that ads come up after wickets fall. wickets fall-we cheer-players cheer-enthused commentary follows which is music or molten lava to the ears depending upon your loyalties-and then finally the ads come. But no! Not so with Neo Cricket. Say if there is a chance of a catch out. The ball is in the air-the fielder positions himself-the ball barely touches his hands-God forbid but you blink-and there is Shahid kapoor selling you a fairness cream! Its only after th...

The name is Serena, but the thought of playing against her hardly brings any serenity to her opponents. After all playing against someone who has 36 career titles to her credit is no cakewalk. When she is in action one can see the skill and power developed through years of discipline and slogging on the court. But all this fails to catch our intellectual writer-cum- fashionista Shobhaa De's attention because she is too busy noticing Serena's "lady corsets, diamond danglers, deep cleavage and neon color". Tch - tch  too bad Shobhaa ma'am. How could any woman encroach upon the prerogative of being successful, beautiful, rich and stylish(in her own way) when it is exclusively reserved for you? Must have felt so vindicated in gleefully tweeting that Serena's ouster "serves her right"?After all the pleasure of writing off a star like Serena must be much greater than writing about IPL cheerleaders' "fannies". It is also much more fun than e...