Why Does The US Has So Many Superheroes?

Recently, I had been to the Tata Steel Kalam Kolkata Literary Fest 2016 where I came across a session with Imtiaz Ali and Aditya Vikram Sengupta. It was quite an interesting discussion but I won't be going into that today (maybe in some future post). In this discussion, I came across an interesting hypothesis which I would like to share today in here.

There was a question from the audience to the panel that why hasn't Bollywood explored the superhero arena much whereas Hollywood has done so much in there which proved to be quite successful as well. To this, Aditya answered that the Hollywood is doing it and Indians are more than happy with them, so why does Bollywood need to do it too. The requirement is meet by Hollywood superhero films. I personally felt that point to be very lame because just because Hollywood is doing it doesn't mean we won't. And if it is so, then shouldn't we just give up doing films Bollywood because I know Hollywood and the regional films will fulfill all the needs of the audience.But that besides the point. After this reply, Aditya went on to point out why there is an abundance of superheroes in USA.

Like most other countries of the world, USA does not have a rich mythological background. It was inhabited by colonists mostly from England but also from the rest of Europe in the 1600s. Though native Americans inhabited the lands before the colonists but they are only a small part of the main population. So, USA can be said to be a fairly new country and thus it is obvious that it has no mythological stories associated with it. Thus, to compensate for that, Americans started creating superheroes with super powers like all the characters of mythology.

New Year Resolutions

It's the time of New Year and everyone is taking resolutions and showing them off as tweets or Facebook posts. The resolutions are born mostly as a result of the trend and not what it actually was intended for. But what do we care, each and everyone of us will break them sooner or later. So what if we don't start following it from the beginning itself and just write it down on my wall just because all our friends are writing something and we don't want to be left as the odd one out.

Over the past few years, I always had one resolution in my mind- to write more blog posts. But somehow, I have failed miserably every time. If you check my calendar widget in the sidebar, it becomes quite apparent to you. The reasons behind my failure can be many. Sometimes, I had a writer's block, sometimes I lacked the inspiration, sometimes I was too busy with my studies, and sometimes I was just too lazy to type in so many words even though I had the whole thing worked out in my mind. These are not really reasons but rather excuses, you might say. And, I agree with you even though I hate it.

If you spend all the time planning a task, you'll end up with a great plan for sure but the task will remain unfinished. Such was the deal with me and my blog. So this year, I thought of not making a resolution. I'll just do it. And, this post is the start of it. Previously, I used to think up of a topic, frame its structure in my mind and then sit down to write it. But today, I just opened up the editor was stared at the blank screen with the blinking cursor and was wondering what to write about. Honestly, I had no idea what this post will be on when I opened this page.

You can also try this out. If you have spent your time planning your resolutions and the path to fulfill them meticulously only to realize after a month or so that you have left it behind long back, this is the time to do it. Here's your chance once again. Don't plan, just start doing it. The destination is all that you need to keep your focus on, not the journey. 

If you beg to differ or approve my views, I would love to know all about it in the comments section.

Also let me know about your new year resolutions below.

And, a very Happy New Year to all of you!!

Review: Every Day by David Levithan

About a month back, I was looking for a new book with something different not the usual stories. I went to the Internet and found a book called Every Day by David Levithan. The review promised me something different and I decided to give it try. I went on to buy the book and started reading within a day. And I was gripped.

Every Day speaks of a soul which isn't trapped in a body like all of us. But instead it resides in a body of its age for a day, lives the life of that body and moves on at midnight. This has been the case since the birth of the soul. And then one day, the soul meets the girlfriend of the body it is in possession that day and falls in love. What follows is the struggle of it to be with her everyday and somehow make her fall in love with itself no matter what body is it in.

The story grabs your attention right from the beginning and urges you to read on to explore the strange life of the protagonist. However, it turns a bit monotonous in the middle only to pick up pace just before it ends. The ending seemed a bit abrupt to me but it doesn't really matter much. 

We always say to look inside a person and not to judge by their outer appearance. As the saying goes, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." But can we really do that? The author with his peculiar plot raises this question and pinpoints how we might immensely fail if we were to love a soul and not the body. It's always easy to say "I'll love you no matter how you look" because we might never get a chance to prove it. And, God forbid, if that chance comes, I'm sure many of us would fail miserably. The story proves that in an interesting manner using an alternate angle of view.  

Much Needed Break

During the last phase of 2014, my life had run into some complexities or super-complexities I may say. They did get sorted out within days but it kind of affected my life in a whole different level, setting it upside down. It was way too much to take within a very short span of time. Therefore, I needed a break.

A break to rethink things, to set the priorities and goals and set my life in the right track. And to do that, I pretty much went into my cocoon, or in a kind of hibernation mode. I only did the absolutely necessary activities like eating or going to college that too after a few weeks but had cut down all activities like going to birthday parties or enjoying or even talking at times with friends.

Now, I’m all sorted out and I’m back (almost six months later). But I realized one thing in all these. Taking a break helps a lot, you can sort your life out. It gives you time to think, sets your mind free and helps you think clearly. So if you ever feel all puzzled up, confused and cornered, go ahead and dare to take a break from all things. It does help you put your life back in place.

The Most Livable City Of The World- Melbourne

We all have a wishlist in our lives, don't we? Afterall, that's one of the purpose of our lives, to fulfil our wishlist. And there are some really crazy things in some of your wishlists, I know that for sure. Mine's also do contain some really wacky things but let's leave that for another day.

I always had a passion for travelling. Even though I had my first trip when I was about five and had been travelling since then as frequently as possible, my quench for travelling has never been satisfied or in other words travelling never bored me. I swear I never felt homesick in my life how much rough the conditions had been. So, as you can guess, travelling is one of the items in my wishlist. If travelling has made it to the list, there should be some names of places as well in it and sure there is. Actually, there's a huge number of places in it, starting from Toronto to Tokyo. But the place that tops the list and has the highest priority is the most livable city of the world. Yeah, you guessed it right, it's none other than Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria.

The Scenario Of Pre-Marital Sex in India

A few days back, as I was browsing through the web, I came across an article which listed the over-rated things in India and guess what topped the list- sex. Sex has always been one of the most hush-hush topic in India and most Indians treat it as a crime and thus never name it. Sex Education is avoided and teens don't have the talk here with their unlike the 3rd world countries. This, I think, is the greatest irony for one of the best works on sex was written in this county- Kamasutra.

With this backdrop, little do you expect that people would approve of pre-maritial sex. The scenario over here is so serious that people don't expect couples to have sex even after marriage. The thing is like that they have sex in order to continue their families, as if they are forced to do it for that sole purpose and they never speak about it for it is a thing of great embarressment. And if someone supposedly had pre-marital sex, they are forced to hide the fact and make sure that it reaches no one's ears for that would mean the person would not find a partner for marriage. This may not be the case for all the Indian men but is applicable to almost all women of the Indian society, even today, especially to those not living in the metros.

However, the scene has changed a lot with the 21st century ushering in. But, unfortunately, the changes are applicable only to the cities. A study by Outlook revealed that 33% had pre-marital sex but 50% deny having it. And, Madras has the highest prevalence of it at 60%, followed by Lucknow(37%), and then Bombay (31%), Delhi (27%) and Kolkata (26%). Amongst the cities, Bangalore has the lowest incidence at 22%. In the cities, pre-marital sex is accepted as a fact of life and does not carry the same stigma of disapproval as elsewhere. Hopefully, it would change with time in other parts of India as well but I don't think anything like that is happening soon.

I never get to see what is wrong with pre-marital sex. Sex happens to be the ultimate form of love and if one is allowed to fall in love then why not sex? And, what has marriage anyway got anything with sex? Even marriage these days is not the union of two hearts for seven lives as it was believed in the olden days but a mere legal contract which starts with a sign and can be ended as well anytime with just a sign. If marriage has lost its meaning why stay with that old conception of sex.

Pre-marital sex comes with a lot of advantages. You get to know your partner very well before marriage; how a person behaves on bed tells a lot about him/her. A failed marriage is something you would never want because the trauma that follows hits really hard and thus its better to get acquainted with your partner before you knot your lives together than to arrive at a failed marriage. Sex has many healthy effects on the body as well as on the mind. Therefore, regular practice of sex makes you happy and healthy, lowering the chances of a lot of diseases as well. But to stay healthy by having sex, you need to marry; the idea is just ridiculous. Sex can also be a part of enjoyment of life and to enjoy life you certainly don't need to marry.

Now, you may argue that so much enjoyment can make you pregnant at an early age then I will ask you to give the children proper sex education if you want to them to practice safe sex. Avoiding the topic won't stop them from pre-marital sex. Those who wants to do it will always do it. Better show them the proper way than looking away and pretending that you know nothing. It's better if we move along with the changing times and adapt ourselves than to hold on to our old ways which has been outdated a long time back.


This post is dedicated to Poonaam Uppal's True Love - A Mystical True Love Story on Flipkart.

Ye Kaisa Jhokha hai

Ye kaisa jhokha hai hawa ka
Jisme baithe chale ja rahe hai
Tum aur main?


Kaha se aya yeh jhokha
Aur kaha le ja raha hai ye humhe?
Kuch bhi nehi hai humhe pata
Par itna sa hai maaloom,
Isme baithe chale ja rahe hai
Tum aur main.


Na dikh raha hai manzil
Na yaad hai humhe apna lakshya;
Hai sirf ek dil ka awaaz,
Jispe bharosa karke
Baithe chale ja rahe hai
Tum aur main.


P.S. : This is my first Hindi poem & Hindi is not my mother tongue. So correct me if I'm wrong anywhere.

A Hypothetical Shopping Experience Of The Great Maestro

Online shopping has always been attractive to me due to its various advantages like availability of a huge variety of products, huge discounts, cash on delivery, etc. But there are numerous problems attached with it as well like looking through the different websites to get the best deal or searching here and there for a product when you don’t know where you can find it for sure. But recently, all these problems has been solved by one website. You can also put it like this: they have caused a revolution in the world of online shopping, adding a completely new dimension to it. And, they're one and only Baggout.com

But I was completely ignorant of this website and never knew such a site even existed. However, I got the opportunity to meet the great maestro, Allah-Rakha Rahman himself during his performance in Kolkata, thanks to my uncle who was in the event management committee. After his performance ended, I went to meet him at the backstage and got into a little chit-chat with him. And, here’s a small part of the conversation that took place regarding his experience of shopping through Baggout.

“How do you buy stuff from public shops without attracting attention?”

“Yeah, that’s really problematic. But thanks to cyber world, shopping has become really easy for us.”

Top Five Disadvantages and Advantages Of Having A Almost-GF

Here, I present to you the top five disadvantages and advantages of having an attractive girl in your life who is closer to you than your best friend but not your girlfriend.
Disclaimer: The following points have been written on personal experiences and is not applicable in general; it may vary from person to person.

Disadvantages:-

1. You can't fully concentrate on anything. Some part of your brain will always be occupied with her thoughts and memories.
2. You will always be in confusion. Some actions of her might show that she loves you back but some others show the other way round. So you keep on calculating the type of her actions and what they actually meant.
3. You will miss her but you can never tell her that. You might also feel like telling her how much you love her or hugging her at great moments of joy or at times of depression but you can't do that either.
4. You will have to offer to pay for her foods to show off your generosity and responsibility for her even though it might burn a hole in your pocket because that's what girls expect from the guys.
5. Mobile phone expenses go skyrocketing. She won't ever call you but only give you missed calls and even if she does you can't take it but disconnect and call her back to show again that generosity and responsibility.

Advantages:-

1. You can flirt with the other girls to great limits but they won't mind because they know your true feelings and don't need to be protective from you.
2. The girls at times even try to woo you especially the ones who are jealous of your girlfriend in order to show her that her boyfriend is enjoying with someone else.
3. The guys look up at you with awe & reverence.
4. Some guys also come up to you for tips asking for help & advice in different situations as if you are some professor with great knowledge in the subject.
5. And lastly, you will have a person by your side to guide you through the thick and thin of your life, especially in those areas where your mother can't and that I think can beat all those shit up there.

World Environment Day 2014

Today is World Environment Day. So I would like to post some environmental pictures from my collection.

Afforestation in Eliot Park, Kolkata

Flower in full bloom

Blogging Left Behind

A few days back, someone in Twitter asked me why I don't blog regularly? Being a struggling blogger, I was overwhelmed to receive such a question for it meant there was someone out there who cared enough not only to check my blog and but also enquire about the problem behind the long gaps in between the posts. Honestly, I was touched.
But then I checked my blog only to find that though my last post was in the last month, the second last one was in the month of February. So there was a gap of about three months which did shock me a bit. It made me wonder what was I doing all this time that I didn't post anything and not even realised it.
There was a time when I used to check my blog everyday, numerous times sometimes for the number of visitors or for new comments. Hardly, I got it out of my mind. And now I spent three months without even thinking about it once. So what's the reason behind this transformation?
After a while, I realized the reason was always my friends. Previously, in my school days, I used to have a great bunch of friends. Some of them were even the toppers of our school but we, who were not really that good at studies, never felt any barriers in our friendship. We all shared our foods & feelings amongst ourselves and honestly I never felt like I was a black sheep in the group or something of that sort.   But then we all went on to college to pursue higher studies. All of us got different colleges at different places, ranging from the local colleges to foreign countries like US. Distance separated us and no matter how much connected we were through Facebook or the social media it did take a toll on our friendship. Though we all still make it a point to meet and catch a movie together during our holidays and the usual cordiality exists, we all got to know in the back of our minds the intimacy was lost.

Pain Of Separation

How i wish i was someone
Beyond the barriers of time & space,
With the ability to displace myself
Anywhere anytime
In a second or two.

And then, i could've reached you
Whenever i desired.
Neither distance nor time
Could stand in the way
Of our union.

But then it occurs to me
All of a sudden that
The passion of the union then
Might not have been the same
Without a month long of yearning.
For the joy of things easily achieved
Is never as satisfactory as the joy
Received after the pain of separation.

The Dream

You had a dream;
A dream we shared,
A dream you trusted me with
And, asked me with a lot of hope
To fulfill this dream for you.

But I am really sorry
From my very heart,
For I have failed you miserably
In the worst possible way I could.

I do not ask for forgiveness
Neither for a second chance
As I know, I am worthless enough
To realise our dream,
Or rather your dream
For I am petty enough
To dream such dreams.

Best Things Of The Cyber-World Are Free

There was someone out there who once said, "Some of the best things in the world are free." And how correct he was. We all know that oxygen, water and all similar comes for free. I am not talking of those things here. Even in this highly competitive world, where everyone has supposedly turned selfish and self-centred to survive, there are a few good guys out there who work to provide us their offerings for free earning in some other way but not from the general public. Well, here's the list:-
•Have you always dreamt of studying in MIT or Stanford University but never got a chance? Or have you studied engineering due to the peer pressure from your dad while you always wanted to study law? Then here's a solution. Head out to coursera.org or edx.org. These are some of the websites which provides online courses from the top universities of the world on a huge variety of subjects and all for free. Not only that, you also get a certificate of accomplishment if you complete your undertaken course within the stipulated time and appear for the final exam. Sounds great? Check it out.

The Ideal Tablet

In the last two decades, the world has witnessed drastic changes in each and every field. But the change has been immense in the field of technology. Telephones have transformed to smartphones, pagers to WhatsApp. Huge desktop computers have evolved into small, light weight laptops, netbooks and even tablets. The keyboard and mouse has lost their utility for these input devices are found on the output devices, i.e., on the touch screens.
Words that can perfectly define the past two decades is innovation at its best. This innovation has always addressed our necessities and problems and tried to solve them. But there has been one innovation that has made a giant leap, solving a number of problems at one go. The innovation is called tablet or simply tab, named after the clay tablets used to be found in the excavations of old civilizations due to similarity in looks.
Tablets are the most wonderful gadget till date. It has got enough power under its hood to let you work like in a laptop, that too with the added advantage of touch screen, play sophisticated games with high end graphics, enjoy movies and songs, and what not. And all these can be enjoyed on the go. But you might ask laptops have all these features and can be carried around as well, so what's so special about tablets? Well, you might carry a laptop all around but try working in it while traversing in a public transport especially during the working hours. But tablets are much easier to handle in crowded places being smaller and compact in size without the keyboard part. Moreover, laptops are quite heavy and most people, having to carry them in their bag pack all day around, complain of severe back aches while no such problem exist with the tablet.
So when the tablets initially hit the markets, there was a lot of speculation around it. But the price being too high, it was not a commoner's commodity. However soon different small companies took interest in it and started producing it within the 10k range. It was possible for them for they didn't have reputation in the markets and therefore didn't care to maintain quality unlike the biggies such as  Apple or Samsung. No sooner did these budget tablets come up, they started selling like hot cakes. Even i got one myself convincing my mother that i really needed one to study the ebooks provided by the college professors of the foreign authors, the printed versions of which were too pricey to buy and were not easily available in libraries.

The Alley

Its dark out there
In that alley of yours,
Which serves as a time saver
To your destination.

In spite of my denials,
I know you will take it;
For you are brave
And courageous enough
To deal with whatever
Comes in your way.

You take the path
And emerge as well
Safe & sound.
But lo!
You have changed.
You seem to be altogether
A different person now.
And, if you ask me
Who is better?
Honestly, I don't know
But all I can say is
I am sorry,
For I am unable
To love you,
Anymore.

The Ideal Old Age

Advertisements are a integral part of our lives. Advertisements of various kinds endorsing different products surround us everyday. However, most of them are blunt and boring and you grow so tired of them by a few days that either you shift your eyes away from it, switch the channel or you just go on tolerating it, having no idea what to do. But there do come advertisements once in a while, which captures our heart and mind, and you can never get enough of it, no matter how many times you watch it.

I came across one such yesterday while roaming around in cyberspace, at YouTube. Its from one of the leading telecom companies of India. The advertisement speaks of an old man who handles technology like a pro and makes use of it in his everyday life to make it more interesting.

The advertisement is a total success and is being appreciated by people from all age groups. Every young guy now dreams to become like him when they grow old.

Enough of jabbering. Here's the video:-

Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns.

And here goes another amazing book added to my "Completed Reading" list, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Its the second installment from the author of The Kiterunner fame.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a story again set in Afghanistan, Herat and Kabul to be exact. And this time there is no escaping to the U.S. but it starts, suffers and end in Afghanistan switching for a very short time to Pakistan.
The story is mainly based on two women, and gives us a close up view of their everyday life, their joys, their sufferings, their desperation to be independent from the tortures and misery and their efforts to claim it. The two female characters are chosen very carefully, the first one is Mariam, a harami born out of an accidental affair between the most richest person of Herat and his maid servant while the other one is Laila, the daughter of an university professor, educated in school and is free from wearing burkha or following any improper rules of the Muslim community. As luck would have it, the lives of these two women from completely two different rungs of society clash together and are made to walk the same path. But finally, one

What seems like an eternity

Let the lights dim out
And the candles blow off.
Let's sit in the dark today
Staring out at each other.
Let the vision pierce through the darkness
And the silence fill in our ears,
As a strange calmness spread around;
While time just seems to stop
For what seems like an eternity.

PADE Post #6 (Theme- Shape)

No shape

For you. But

Only power

You've got,

To sustain

Or destroy

An entire species.

My PADE entry for today's theme- Shape.