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.  

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

The Gift In Return

Rajibh was working in his laptop sitting on the bed when a sudden electronic beep made him look up at his digital table clock. The time was 12:00 am and it was the hourly beep. He was about to get back to his laptop screen when something suddenly caught his eye. The date. And with the date came a flood of memories.

It was on this day, exactly a year back, that Rajibh and his wife had parted their ways and put the last nail on the coffin of their three year old marriage. Yes, this was the day when Rajibh had finally got his freedom from Mousomi after several tormenting months.

What not she had done to make sure that Rajibh realised every bit of his mistake of marrying Mousomi. She had sent him to jail for a couple of days, make him pay a huge sum as alimoni, took away his mansion and even sent his ailing mother to jail. What a lady! Not lady but a bitch she was. And what was his mistake? Just to complain about her flirting nature with his friends. She had found the clue in it to divorce him. What she failed to see was his unconditional love which was the reason of him being so possessive about her.

Confession #1

I never loved her. Never. It was just a liking. A liking for her. But, I also like so many others and it never feels like that. So, was it Infatuation? Maybe. Or was it love? No, I guess. But, who cares? Sometimes, I care, don't I? Yes, I think, would be the honest answer.

There was a yearning for her, an urge to meet her no sooner did I leave her. Wanted to look at her always, glancing at first and then gaping at her beauty till the bell rang announcing the end of the class. Was she really that beautiful? My friends never agreed on that. And, of course, we had more beautiful girls in the class than her. Then why did I gape at her? What charm did she put on me?

Some say its love. But, doesn't violins play in the background when you are with your love and the wind seems to come out of nowhere blowing the dry leaves against you and you keep on looking at her with your mouth wide open as she tries to manage her dress blowing in the wind? Such things never happened with me. Then, how can it be love? It must have been infatuation. But again, doesn't people in infatuation forget the other person in no time and stop caring about her as soon as they are out of their sight for a long time? This also didn't happen with me. I seem to care for her still now when I haven't met her for more than thirty days by now.  So was it love or infatuation? Simply, I don't know. Confused, totally confused I am.