Standards of Society?: Who is deciding??

We gotta keep it humble, the only way to get up is to get above yourself. 

Shake your heart, shake your ass, shake your mind; 

And baby keep shaking they're gon' get bigger with time!

-HumbleThePoet x iiSuperwomanii

-IVIVI 

I am going to talk about serious taboos of society in this article; so if you're mildly or even faintly offended, please stop reading this, right here. This the Vol.1 of the unrealistic standards of society, many more articles are to follow.

We live in a digital age, the social and economic impact of digital platforms are humongous. We all use it, but there's a very fine line between visual documentation and exploitation. Just because you have the power to write and post on a public forum, and you have a certain number of viewers; does not and should not mean that you get to use the power in a negative way. For example, in Feb'18; India lost one of its finest female superstars ever born, Lt. Sridevi; She was found dead in a hotel bathtub and the postmortem stated the cause of death to be a heart attack and the Indian Media; overstepped their jurisdiction with headlines such as "Maut ka Bathtub" (The bathtub of death), "Sridevi ka aakhri dance" (Sridevi's last dance), news anchors said 'sharab ke nashe me chali gyi duniya se Chandini' (Under the intoxication of alcohol, Chandini leaves the world).

I don't think journalism was meant to stoop this low. I know so many digital content creators who are using such clickbait methods to pass information. The real problem is that; when we read or watch content, we don't have enough patience to go through that whole gamet; so we read/watch half, we understand half of what we have read/watched and react on it. We don't read enough. There is more to the truth than an exciting caption or an aesthetic Instagram picture.

As enviously beautiful as those posts look; they set a very inaccurate standard of beauty, for people and the surroundings. Filters, colour correctors, photoshop, HD cameras, portrait mode can make everything appealing to the eye. In our attempt to always look 'lit'; we tend to forget that we are human, natural or artificial; we have flaws, and we do wake up with messy hair and horrible breath. Especially as women, for centuries we've been told that these are the beauty standards that we need to follow. I have pores, blemishes, swollen skin, an imperfect smile and a long list of physical imperfections. Why do we feel the need to smooth out our pictures, it's okay to have scars, blemishes, acne, wrinkles, while men can have facial hair, pores, scars and it's called 'character'. I don't need society to tell me that I need to correct the flaws on my face, my uneven complexion or the backgrounds of my pictures. Can we for second, love ourselves for who we are, and not what we're posting it out to be? 

The next aspect of society that I cannot comprehend is the hoohaah about age. We're a country with a population of 1.3 billion; who decided that they have the power to standardize the average age for all 1 billion of us to graduate, get a good job, get married, settle down, have kids, etc?? When we're 14, we're dying to be 18; when we're 18, we're dying to be 21; when we're 21, we're dying to be 25; when we're 25, we're dying to be 18 all over again. Some people find their true selves and passion at 60 and that is not bad at all. We're all on our own journeys, who decided that if I haven't found myself or my real calling by say 25 or 30, that I am not good enough?? The journey is as important as the destination; if you pay attention to the journey, the destination will be rewarding.

If we're gonna be so caught with what our peers are doing at our age, we're gonna miss out on the precious time of our lives. We hardly know which race we're a part of at this age (I am 22), but we're all so eager to run, elbow out one another and compete. We're all wearing blinkers; and running like derby horses; cause we've been conditioned to believe that only the best one will get the job, or a good salary package, or a cute life partner, a good lifestyle that we tend to forget that life is not a competition; the world is so big, there is place for everyone.

We are the most advanced race of human civilization; the beauty of living creatures is that we're doomed, any moment can be our last, the sand can run out anytime so we have the privilege to enjoy every moment without worrying what'll happen next; yet we choose not to live these moments magnanimously and with grace; but with the fear of the uncertainty of the future. How is our immortal soul supposed to rest in peace when are mortal selves are never at peace? Do not condition yourself to settle.

"बाबू मोशाय जिंदगी बड़ी होनी चाहिए, लंबी नहीं" 
- Rajesh Khanna.

Legalization of Marijuana: Let's have a healthy debate.

The Indian youth has taken a paramount initiative to finally make a concrete movement towards the legalization of marijuana in the country.

Marijuana comes from the hemp plant, and the drug is primarily concentrated in its flowers (buds) and much less in its seeds, stems and leaves. The marijuana plant contains over 400 chemicals; THC (delta-9-tetrahydro-cannabinol) being one of its principal ones.

Marijuana reduces the blood pressure, it has been proven to have mild to moderate pain killing effects. It induces the mind to relax while reducing aggression. Cannabis oil can cure blood cancer (And no, this is not a myth. It has cured blood cancer in a matter of 60 days). It stimulates your body to recept more food and it also increases your stimuli to smell, hearing and eyesight. Medical marijuana is used to treat chronic pain, muscle spasticity, anorexia, nausea, controlling seizures and sleep disturbances.

https://www.businessinsider.in/23-Medical-Uses-Of-Marijuana/articleshow/34015633.cms

Having said that, marijuana can block and alter memory formation, marijuana users might have hallucinations and delusions and it reduces the balance of the brain. All of these are the long term effects of marijuana in the human body. 

When we're talking about legalization of a drug in a nation, especially like ours; there are a lot of strings that must be kept in mind. A large part of our country is illiterate, backward and we have a massive crime rate. When we choose to legalize a drug; we must know that everyone in this country will have easier access to it and let's be real not everyone in this country will use it wisely. Why, you ask? Because it will be accessible to adolescents and to people who will use it in ways more than one which will eventually be harmful to them and the society as a whole. Then why shouldn't the ones who use it responsibly have access to it? I'm not saying we shouldn't have access to this drug. We should. We the youth do not form 100% population of the country but,we do form 100% future of this country. Yes,as a part of the youth, I want marijuana to be legalized in India. But more than that, I want the goverment to take initiative towards better education about the uses of marijuana. The day we can teach the positive uses of marijuana and how to NOT misuse it, this movement will be a success. It will eliminate illegal trade, taxation on marijuana can earn the government revenue, it will create job opportunities, it will help us benifit medically, it will help the weed farmers (weed is grown in several Indian states), good quality marijuana will be sold in the market and it is way less harmful than alcohol. But we're not talking about just us, we're talking about a nation with a varied economical and demographic structure. But let's be real; criminalizing a drug won't stop its usage. So let us take a proactive step towards legalizing this drug that might alter our lives for the better. And let us not forget that marijuana was legal in India till 1986, Rajiv Gandhi revoked the legalization because a large percentage of addicts were the poor people. Maybe upholding the ban on its recreational use is sensible to avoid misuse;but to economically develop this country and for better health care we need legalization of marijuana. Most of all, we should not bring religion into this; we're a secular country. Some religions consider it as sin, while some glorify it. This is an appeal to the judiciary to think about it and if we as a nation choose to legalize it, we must make the choice of accurate awareness and education about it. Educating a billion people about marijuana is not easy, it needs an organised workforce and open acceptance to its education.

How every single one of us choose to look at it and use it, is in our hands!

The journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.

I hope that "The Great Legalization Movement, India" leads to a revolution where we can accept marijuana without being guilty under law.

 

Until next time! :')

There are no words so strong in this world that would describe my feelings for every single one of you.

For someone who’s in a professional course like hotel management, friendships are the key. I have a lot of friends in college who are professionals, that happen to fit both these criteria. So when you work with your friends, you don’t feel like life’s passing you by, which is great feeling. That in abstract is my college life, you take anybody amongst my friends, I’ve worked with them before and that is priceless.

Let me take a minute and tell this on behalf of all undergrads who migrate to different cities for college; you know, as teenagers moving out of their homes to a new city, it’s a monumental transition that we need to adapt to. Having no family to fall back on, no home to go back at the end of the day, having no one to share the dinner with, having to care for your health, finances and life by yourself; ‘adulting’ in a nutshell. It’s tough and so are those friendships that got us out of those blues. Thank you for melting the concrete walls of college with the warmth in your heart.

We’ve had an amazing run for these three years, and it’s been an extraordinary journey to have you around and enjoy your company. Whether it was walking through the empty roads in the middle of the night or going out or sitting and doing absolutely nothing or sharing meals, drinks, clothes, shoes and what not or working on assignments or exhaust ourselves working for countless events or just waste time or watching you guys play Fifa (Baaaaays). Most of all, it scares me to think we have only six more months till we migrate to different parts of the world in pursuit of our career. I am not very resilient to the thought of this parting, it’s a very heavy picture for my heart to draw. I will miss you when you’re far building your life while I build mine. But I hope one day you can lean on me as much as I have leaned on you. Thank you for holding on to me, when I was not very lovable, when I was confused, bitter and drowned in my own insecurities. To all the hugs, kisses, bucket to-do-list, fights, sentimental moments, the non sensical jokes, the slangs we picked up from each other, all the beliefs bigger than our fears. This is not a goodbye, it will never be.  This is an adieu until next time.

Anyone who’s not in college/ is in college but hasn’t completed it yet and is reading this, cherish the little joys of life. There’s a time and place for everything, right now is the time to have fun without caring. Because when the rat race begins, and the pressure and uncertainty of the future starts seeping in, you will not have the time or be in the right mind to have fun. Go get high, go to concerts, go get dressed and party, wake up late, have marvelous conversations, fight, cry, get a job, leave a job, start a new hobby, fall in love, click lots of pictures, embrace the random plans. I guess what I am trying to say is, carve your own niche. Be unstoppable, do everything that makes you happy, everything else can wait, the three years’ time in college will not, and while you do all that, take a moment, look back and enjoy all the wonderful memories you made and all the extraordinary relationships you built in the course of time. And if there’s anything you wanna say, say it now. There’s no better time for it cause you won’t be coming back after leaving this year.

If you happen to know me personally, you’d know I am a very peoples’ person. I enjoy the company of people; human traits are manifold and versatile, you can’t put them together in one person, so it is much juicer to have more people around. And by ‘more people’ I literally mean the handful of close friends you’d carry in your heart for a lifetime. Everybody else you meet in the course of time are going to be your friends or acquaintances.

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

Go ahead, look for your picture, and if you can’t find yourself, maybe we need to click pictures!

Dear men,

THANK YOU.

There are a lot of male bashing articles on the internet; this is not one of them.  This is an article of gratitude, applaud and honor to all the men in my life, and for everyone else who resonates with it.

I think it’s about time, that they got their due. We’ve all have come across these amazing men in our lives at every stage; be it our fathers, brothers, grandfathers, uncles, God-fathers, friends, best friends, boyfriends, husbands, colleagues, acquaintances, teachers, whoever they maybe, in whichever form they might be, they are always there to make our lives better.

Thank you for making me feel that the world is a better place. And I choose to believe that because of your presence:

And if you happen to know me, and have done either one or multiple things out of this list for me, this is my sincere gratitude.

Thank you for making me laugh till my stomach hurts, especially on the days that I thought I couldn’t.

Thank you for always lending a supportive shoulder, non- judgmental ears and a shoulder to cry on.

Thank you for teaching me the good and the hard lessons of life. The ones who’ve taught me the good, I call friends and the ones who’ve taught me the hard lessons, I call assholes. They’ve taken the tough job, but someone had to do it. Thank you to all the assholes who’ve taught me to be a better person.

Thank you for accompanying me when I need to shop, and even when I don’t need to.

Thank you for all the extra time you spent to teach me or help me when I was struggling.

Thank you for being patient with my tantrums and understanding and mood swings, when I am on my days.

Thank you for taking all the calls when I’m bored or when I need company.

Thank you for letting me crack dirty jokes without feeling embarrassed.

Thank you for making me more aware and informed about sports, cars, games and the list goes on.

Thank you for giving me a different perspective and for teaching me to see the other side of the story, before reacting. Thank you for tireless efforts in guiding and advising me.

Thank you for your constant efforts towards always clearing my doubts and helping me get a clearer picture of what I wanted to do and the person I wanted to be.

For every tear that a woman has shed because of a man, know and believe that there are several men out there who make this world a better place. I know many of them, you know them. We all know them, but probably we don’t appreciate them enough. This is a shoutout to all those men, who’ve known and made strong women.

You can’t always talk about women by putting examples of women, you gotta change your palette and talk about all the men who’ve stood up for those women and supported them to be great. As much as my mom would hate me for saying this, cause I love her the most, but I have to say it, Papa you’ve been my pillar of strength. I have to make a special mention for my father; he has been my biggest cheerleader and supporter. Thank you, for never losing hope, for believing in me, for supporting me, for being my guiding light, for never letting me settle, for teaching me that it’s okay to lose and to be a sport and clap for someone else, for pushing me out of my comfort zone and to an endless list of sacrifices you’ve made to see your little girls (me and my elder sister) grow up to be independent and successful women. I love you, dad! I wouldn’t be half the person that I am today if it wasn’t for you.

And girls, let’s be real, tall boys with dark hair and shy smiles, who smell good and have great taste is music are very important!

And I am gonna admit it, I wrote this article because I have too many men in my life that I need to thank and saying ‘Thank You’ never goes out of fashion! I appreciate all of you more than what I could express. Go on, take a minute, Thank all the lovely people in your life who gave it a purpose.

Tribute to AIB. ♥

It's been over a month since AIB Knockout has been pulled down from Youtube.

The problem is that ministers can threaten rape on a public forum with seemingly no repercussions but we can't even laugh at ourselves freely.

‪#‎whatashame‬.

This article is a tribute to AIB.

All India Bakchod is a comedy group co-founded by Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhat. Later joined in by Ashish Shakiya and Rohan Joshi.

From It's your fault to the infamous AIB knockout these guys have come a long long way.

Gursimran Khamba was a part of United Students - an initiative by some Delhi University students to change the state of politics and governance at DU. Khamba studied journalism from Delhi College of Arts & Commerce. He also completed his M.A. in Media & Cultural Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai a year back. Khamba was an active member of AIESEC during his under-graduate years. After graduation, Khamba was all set to move to Europe for his Master's degree. But, life had different plans for him. He contracted Tuberculosis that led to him being bed-ridden for around 6 months. Sick, bed-and-angst-ridden, and heart-broken, he amused himself by watching stand-up comedy on YouTube. He soon started a blog that was called Khamba's Blog- My thoughts and opinions on all that is ridiculous in India. He presented a witty and quirky take on social and political issues. 

The blog became hugely popular and earned him thousands of followers on Twitter. Rajneesh Kapoor, a popular stand-up comedian in Delhi, stumbled upon his blog one day and found it really funny. Impressed, he contacted Khamba and invited him for an open mic night (stand-up comedy by amateurs). And that is how his journey in this space started! 

Tanmay Bhat was one of the writers of the show Oye, It's Friday that was hosted by Farhan Akhtar.  He also wrote for Filmfare Awards in 2012 that were hosted by Shahrukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. Also he was a journalist with FOX News.

Ashish Shakiya is a humour columnist for the Hindustan Times. He was an engineer before he found his calling in comedy. He is a co-writer on the show The Week That Wasn't with Cyrus Broacha on CNN IBN. 

Before Rohan Joshi became a stand-up comedian, he was a journalist with CNBC. He still writes a weekly column for Mid-Day. He was also dating Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt.

I specifically have written about  their previous jobs so that all those bunch of idiots who think these guys are uncouth and illiterate enough to use foul language in front of millions of people, see that they are in fact way educated than most people.

If at all you want to know how noble their thoughts are just watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHCN8FZ1tO8

They are just a group of 20 year olds wanting to change the face of comedy in India. Who want to open comedy schools in India. Is it that bad? Wanting to uplift a vocational career in India?

Or this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHmHXb3Jzkc

Or this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prigmCL61fk

Classless idiots get called to India Today Conclave 2015 or for an interview with Brand Equity or to converse with Anupama Chopra. 

And as a matter of fact they are mobbed at airports, treated as celebs by their fans and asked to pose for pictures even by the celebrities.

What I'm trying to say is that we all give 'gaalis' or exchange sex jokes on a daily basis but the minute it's done on a public forum it becomes a matter of scrutiny. We Indians are a strange breed of people. There are far more greater things we need to take offence for like Honey Singh's songs which objectify women. Or politicians justifying rapes. Or the saas-bahu serials. Or typecasting Muslims as terrorists. No one cares beyond the four walls of their house. As long as you are safe, as long as you are not harmed, let things be as it is. But if it's beyond them you are going to be threatened and that's what happened with AIB. Change, you say? We're blissfully stuck where we are.

The roast had over a million views in it's first 24 hours. And it's pirated version which are still doing rounds on YouTube(wait for it) have over a million views. 

In all their videos it is mentioned very clearly that they contain explicit content. If you don't like it, then do NOT watch it. There is something called "freedom of speech". All those people who found that roast offensive, should have watched it till the end. All the revenue earned from it was given away for charity. 

Ideally: If you make people laugh,they'll love you.

In India: If you make people laugh, they'll file FIRs against you. 

The problem with our nation is that we are more interested in an "offensive" comedy show than matters that really require national importance.

There is a classic failure in our legal system.

For me, AIB guys are real heros who stood up for what they believed in and

weren't scared about the consequences.

Way to go guys.

Cheers to the AIB team.

P.S.: The information about them is all derivative from Wikipedia, Google, Quora and their website.

Teen Ink.

Teenage,the times often misprized. We laugh too much, love too much, shout too much, the times of fears, angst, secrets which we often prefer to hide,if at all it wasn't that easy   *evil grin*   . This phase all-in-all is a maze, a puzzle. To unjumble this you need to go to the roots deep down. Roots that have scars, scars that tell I have a story, that I am a survivor, that I am a fighter. Teenage, ah! You weren't that regretful,you were exciting.


Having late night life and late hangover mornings is the fashion, people say. But we the teenagers known for these deeds are the ones who woke up at four a.m. in the morning to march for Damini(for the ones who don't remember her, she's the girl who was raped in Delhi on 16th dec,2012). If we are greedy and we want our greed to be satisfied fast and this is the example then yes, I am greedy. In the freezing temp. of 2 degrees where we lay with our blankets till late mornings, we woke up, we woke up for our greed, our greed for a better place to live in.


I want better clothes, I want a new phone, I want new gadgets. Am I being materialistic? No, I just aspire to lead a better life. What's so wrong in it? I know there are millions of unprivileged children across this globe craving for a meal and I am doing my bit. I'm trying. I am just a teenager and you can't expect me to move mountains.



When I am angry, I am loud, very loud. Even if I want to shut up, I can't because I'm burning inside. My parents' often tell me I'm picking up the ways of my friends. I am often reprimanded for back-answering and misbehaving just like my friends. It just comes from within and I can't help it. I am not doing this because I'm influenced. I am doing this because you are scolding me and I am stating facts, what's so wrong in it? You tell me to speak the truth,why do you ask me to do so when you can't even handle it?


We are all in this together. You can't just blame me for all this and stand out. I am mad at times, I act immature sometimes, and I laugh for no reason at all, I share my secrets with my friends. But you know, DEEP DOWN I'M STILL THAT LOST CHILD,TRYING TO GROPE HER MOTHER'S HAND IN THE DARK. I WEEP ALONE IN THE DARK. I MIGHT OPEN UP TO MY FRIENDS BUT I CAN ONLY FIND SOLACE IN MY MOTHER'S HUG.

"I am fine" was her suicide note.

We come across, unfortunately with great frequency, many reports about student suicides, especially students belonging to elite institutions. Why would a young, hardworking, bright student who has the world ahead of him, do something like that?

The answer is simple- in our constant reverence for a great institution, we forget it's dark side. And the dark side is that we are afflicted by the quintessential Indian phenomenon of academic pressure, probably the highest in the world, and sometimes the pressure gets too much.

Leave alone academics, teenagers these days need a reason to suicide, be it, betrayal in love, disappointment in love, irreversible adolescence mistakes, parental separation, distress in the home environment and this is just the start the list just goes on and on.

The rationale for killing is simple-nobody loves me, my scores are awful, I have no future, what difference would it make to the world if I was not there? I have too many problems, I can't deal with all this anymore and yet again, the list goes on and on. People who commit suicide don't want to die-they just want it to stop hurting. It is a desperate attempt to escape suffering that has become unbearable.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that approximately 1 million people die each year from suicides. Remove guns, drugs, knives, poisons and other potentially lethal objects from the vicinity but do not, under any circumstances leave a suicidal person alone.

SO, IF YOU SEE A DISTRESSED YOUNG SOUL, LEND A SUPPORTIVE SHOULDER AND A NON-JUDGMENTAL EAR.

So, when we take this dreadful decision, all the lives linked to ours are shattered. I think we all need to learn to confide in our elders, they are our first people, they are the ones who'll help us when we need it the most. No matter what we go through in life, if God wanted us to take our own life, he would have provided a power off button. He didn't, so have faith and let his plan unfold for you.

BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW TOUGH LIFE GETS AND HOW MUCH IT HURTS, IF STREET DOGS DON'T GIVE UP THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE THE SMART SPECIES SHOULD. MAKES SENSE, RIGHT?