Do you need a Resolution?

Now is the time of frivolous messages with meticulously copied rhymes or paragraphs so sweet that you'd get diabetes. It's also considered to be acceptable to make resolutions and you're compelled to look back and analyze every terrible decision you've made. If that wasn't difficult enough, on further scrutiny, you attempt to realign your life and give it a nudge in the right direction. 

For all those who do manage to do that, I salute you. But most of us don't. So much planning just gives us a headache. What happens when we make resolutions, is that we try to change ourselves. We attempt to change our lifestyle and method of making decisions. In the magic of new beginnings, we try to forget who we are and become who we wish to become. And that's okay. It's perfect actually. But forcing ourselves to study/work six hours a day when you've managed only six minutes before or losing a few kilos when you aren't ready to exercise and put in any effort doesn't make sense.

While playing basketball, you can't plan how exactly each and every basket is going to take place. All you need to do is break some sweat, know your game and have faith that your teammates know theirs as well. The basket happens on its own. The same thing happens with resolutions. You need to know the basket. You need to put in some effort. Then all you can do is watch it spin around the rim, as it teases you before swishing inside. Or pick it up and try again if it doesn't! While every basket is a success, every failed attempt is motivation to get the combination right!

So I hope you start this year with emotion, because it is emotion that makes you want to do stuff. It is the hunger to achieve something that makes you dream. The agony of losing something helps you hold on to stuff and the desire to remain happy makes sure you move on. If you're angry or sad, I hope you have someone to vent it out on because getting it out of your system is the best thing you could do. But if someone's there for you, you might as well realise you shouldn't be glum in the first place. I wish you figure out how many baskets you want to do and handpick your own team of volunteers to help you touch the sky and slide down the rainbow. Learning new stuff is amazing. And oh yes, I hope you find something or someone new to love as well.

Sing a song. Dance to a rhythm. 

Paint a memory. Capture moments. Devour a book. Cook a story.

Do anything, really. Like Neil Gaiman said, make mistakes. Make glorious mistakes or even hilariously useless ones if you like. Because atleast that way you're doing something. 

365 new days. 

* rubs palms*
*dreams of the after-twelfth era*
*yawns*
It's 1am. (when I was typing this it was!)
*sleeps and continues dreaming*

Kanksha :)

Thanks for reading! You guys are the best. <3 Have a great end to 2014 and a smashing year too! :D

CleaningUpOurAct(GTA#3)

GuessTheArtist#3

For all those who don't know, I've capitalized the names of songs and albums by two artists/bands. Your task is figuring out whom I'm talking about. Hope you have as much fun guessing as I did writing! Comment your answer in the box below or on my facebook page! :D

A Sky Full of Stars,

Fluttering Whispers in the Dark;

Everything looks beautiful,

Until the sun sends out some Sparks.

That’s when we see garbage disguised as sidewalks,

A red carpet bestowed by tobacco on the road,

Dog poop splattered around like rocks,

By the same people who have enormous wardrobes.

We’re Falling Inside the Black,

Even though we live a Life in Technicolour.

Instead of being the Saviour..

We’re being a Monster to nature.

The Hardest Part is to stop blaming people

And Rise all together, as one, too.

We have to tend to her Open Wounds,

Earth, it’s time to Fix You.

This one is pretty easy. It's pop, so most of you should be able to guess it I'm assuming!

On the other hand, a very interesting thing happened a couple of months ago. I was on the way to meet Aditi when the taxi stopped at a rather long signal. Someone from a couple of taxis ahead of me towards the left threw some garbage on the road. That caught my attention. On most occasions, no one really cares. But this is when something completely unexpected happened. A man in a car behind them got out, picked up the garbage and threw it back inside the taxi. Normally, the roads of Bombay are full of noise. But for a few seconds, it seemed as though everyone around became quiet. We silently watched him mutter a couple of words angrily and slam the door of his car, annoyed. But in those few moments, he had earned everyone's respect.

I think what he did was wonderful. If we all do this once in a while, it could make such a big difference! Not only will the person who threw trash will realise it's wrong, but whoever sees it will as well.

Also, today was also Day Three of a mission my Aunt had begun. It involved cleaning, whitewashing and redecorating a footpath. This feat was achieved only due to the combined effort of the BMC, Local Cooperator, Residents, School and Media – it’s a perfect example to show us how much we can actually achieve if we work together! For more information click here. 

Let's all try and make a difference. 

Be the cause of the change.

Kanksha :)
Thanks for reading!

(Last times answers are Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses!)

History of Masculinity

It's a scientifically proven fact, that heels actually make women look more appealing. We all know dresses are meant for girls and that a muscular man looks more attractive. Prof. David Perrett, of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience says, ""That is, we seem to have learned that, for example, being tall is associated with a more elongated face shape. If presented with the faces of two equally tall men, and one of them has a slightly longer face than the other, we will be likely to think that the man with the longer face is also taller." These are just examples of strong opinions that all of us have when it comes to what is feminine or masculine.

How many times have you heard someone call a girl a tomboy or a guy girly? (which often changes to gay) Quite a lot of times, right? What if I told you that there is no such thing as girlish or guyish? What if I told you that what we think and believe is pure luck and not logical at all? Today, guys might have been wearing skirts and loving the colour pink - infact I know a guy who was obsessed with pink water bottles! Basically, I guess we feel something is favoured for a particular gender just because it happened to turn out that way!

For instance, cheerleading was originally exclusively a men's sport. In fact, it was taken pretty seriously in the 1600s and involved quite a lot of gymnastics and formations! Idk how the transition happened, but now you'd rarely find men associated with it. Cheerleading is mostly associated with 'a-bit-more-on-the-stupid-side' women screaming away. The stupidity being another stereotype altogether, but lets not talk about that.

Another thing that you might find amusing is that men were the first people to wear heels. Yes, those painful yet elegent looking thinks that women obsess about - heels. The story goes something like this. The high class men began wearing them, as it made them feel more masculine. Women, felt left out, and began wearing them as well (to look masculine) - they'd done the same thing with hats. Soon, men began feeling that heels tainted their power as a status symbol for men (the same thing happened for cheerleading), and they were stopped all together when practical footwear was emphasized upon. So how did heels make an appearance all over again? It was in pornography.

The idea of clothing has varied as well. There was a time when kings took pictures in dresses. Trousers originally defined being a male. But now, since half a century, women have adopted the same culture. There is nothing masculine or feminine about it.

Is anything at all intrinsically masculine or feminine? Or is it just in our head as we keep changing its definition generation after generation? For all we know, what people have stereotyped as gay today, might have actually been manly at one point of time.

Thanks for reading!

Kanksha :)