What do you feel like doing if your down? Share your list :) ..

All of us feel the need to be loved, to be cared for, be it a human or an animal. Humans express their feelings, not all pets do, but even they have their own ways of expression, maybe they just answer to your call when you call them or talk to them. I'm not referring to animal obedience here, but to the feeling of being wanted or needed.

In North India, crows are considered to be the bearer, or attender of Lord Shani .It is believed that you should feed crows to please the Lord and ward off harm. My mom being an ardent devotee of Shani Maharaj  took to feeding crows. She would place bits of bread on our kitchen window sill of our second floor apartment and call out to the wanderers of the sky with the sound of "khao,khao". It was weeks before one finally turned up to eat, snatched the food and flew away. But she kept calling out and it wasn't long before they knew that they are being called everyday. So, now they come and sit and eat their biscuits regularly (they are surprisingly choosy about their fooding habits and don't prefer roti in their diets). Sometimes they come and call out to her instead trying hard to imitate the word khao. They don't just come for food, you find them calling just for nothing, mom responds back and blabbers to them as she works, they just sit their watching her work and fly away after some time.

I stand and watch from afar, they fly away when I approach them. I stand and watch and wonder what they feel, what do they think, do they really understand our feelings or is it just basic animal instinct to come for food. Even when mom's away for work, they come to our kitchen calling out for her....

India just celebrated its 64th year year of independence. But are we really independent? Is our country as democratic as it claims to be? Where people like Anna Hazare are locked up in jails only cause he raised his voice to protest against corruption. Where rape, murder, theft, corruption  is on the rise.Where society is a major threat to your freedom of expression, where people murder couples in the name of "honour killing" and the government looks on.

Delhi held the "slut walk" for the first time in India and yes, I feel it was necessary. Why blame women all the time? Why categorize them as "sluts"  for the clothes they wear? Is it reason enough to rape a woman just because she was candidly dressed? Or is it even justified to touch her inappropriately just because some man finds her seductive? Is it the fault of a woman to look good, to dress well, or dress seductively when the situation demands so? Blame it on those men too, who have no control over their sexual desires, who treat women as objects of lust, who marry only to mask their true nature. Our society is so male dominated that the act of a man standing and peeing by the side of the road is considered "utterly normal" whereas, people frown at a woman who has to breastfeed a hungry baby.

Could you define independence for me? I guess it would mean something different for every person. For me, freedom is the liberation of women. The day when we wont be looked down upon, the day when I can travel in a public bus without being groped for or stared at. The day when if I raise my voice  to protest, people won't frown on me and doubt my voice.

For me, freedom also means the freedom to express love. Look at the couple walking down the road hand in hand, look there, he's put his arm around her waist, look there, he just stole a kiss, look she's sitting with her head resting on his shoulders. Now, look around those couples and count. Count the number of people frowning, count the people taunting, count the number of people ogling, count the people ready to protest against such "inappropriate behaviour". Why? Is love a crime? Ironically we're born in the land of Kamasutra, a land which extensively boasts of love in its purest form even in the Vedas.

This is what freedom means to me. What are your views?

I received this sms yesterday night and started reflecting:

The best place where you can actually be urself is on the terrace...on a dark night...in loose pyjamas, calm silence of midnight...having view of the neighbours empty roof...under the dark velvet sky embroidered with stars..cool breeze, listening to the song which defines you..It's all exotic..!

This is the time when you talk to urself..think about all the good & bad & weep or laugh silently..! Who knew nights could be so illuminating, Just you & darkness all around, where you are just you..no false mask over the face..no double standards..it's the only time when you are actually yourself.

And I felt that it's so true. The night is when I'm "me". For me the night is the time when I bond with God. When all the lights are turned off, and everything is so silent that you can hear yourself breathe, and I'm lying on my bed, that is when I pray. At that moment it's not a ritual anymore, it's bonding with a friend who you haven't met for a long long time. I talk to Him then, discussing my worries, my problems, sharing my thoughts and happiness. I do not know since when I got into the habit of praying at night but I just realised through that message that during those moments at night I was just being Me knowingly or unknowingly. For me, when I pray at night, it is just me and the Almighty, no double standards, no rituals,no joining of hands, no bending of knees, it's an earnest prayer from my soul each night. The night breaks down all the barriers around me, it projects into the world the true, real, vulnerable, human, me. When there are good days ahead, my nights are happy, well slept-in. When I'm worried, the nights are scary for it gives me no protection, it is at night that I truly face my fears, all alone, all by myself. It is a time of the day that I feel God truly tests you, for you're left all alone at the time, face to face with your darkest fears in this world, analyzing, strategizing, hoping, and sometimes helplessly praying,it makes you so restless for the morning, for the happy hours. Did He plan to make us emotionally stronger this way?......But the night also brings with it so much of calm. Every night when I'm in bed, it's like I wait eagerly for that silence to engulf me, to pacify me, it's like your favourite blanket and you just can't wait to cuddle in it.

Honestly who knew that nights could be so illuminating. Every night has so much to teach us. It is almost like the moral of a story at the end of each day, a lesson learnt on time.