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.