In dodo's head

That would be the right word to describe today's Australian Open final.. And Federer's win gave me goosebumps... true story! Yes, I am a die-hard Federer fan.. and truly believe he is the best player ever! Need proof? 16 Grand Slam titles till date.. 2 more than Pete Sampras. More later.. :)

Yes that is what I am. Here I was, having 'proudly' finished off writing a paragraph here (the one below this post) and merrily browsing through Facebook groups when I came across one-'Manipur comments'.. Further 'investigation' on this group led me to a beautifully composed blog with articles by well known journalists. My attraction however was to an article by MS Prabhakara for the Hindu ( http://manipurcomments.com/insurgencies-in-manipur-politics-ideology/ ). It is so well written, precise and informative. My life would be so much simpler if I could compose all my views into 250-450 words like that ( and my university grades so much higher)! Apologies to the very few who read my 'rantings'. Unfortunately for me and you all, Patience has never been my virtue and writing articles like these will only be a dream. But we can only hope I improve through persistent attempts. Jokes apart, I will try harder next time.. Bear with me till then. Cheers.

It's true what they say, no matter how far we are from our motherland, there is an invisible thread which binds us to Her, and it is hard not to be affected by the things which happen back home. Not a day passes when I am not grateful for the privilege I have received as a result of very good luck and loving parents of being able to study outside my home town of Imphal. But happy as I may be, I feel a sense of frustration and despair at the way Manipur is currently functioning. The load sheddings as a result of electricity shortages which have now become a part of life for Manipuris makes it hard to believe for me that we are living in the 21st century. While the rest of the world are already secure with their 24 hour electricity and thinking of eco-homes and what not, we Manipuris are still struggling to light our homes even during the night. While smoke detectors are now an item in very household of the UK and burning candles something they do only during the holidays or specia...

Well, it's been a while since I started, and thank you to all the very few people out there who bother to read this, out of kinship or friendship or boredom or curiosity or whatever else reason you have to spare a moment to read my rantings. As I was showering today(using an 'Anti-stress' shower gel, nothing less!), I was thinking about all the problems that find themselves a home in my brain. Oh, that was not what I set out to write in the first place..See, that is how muddled my head is.. :P People out there, wondering what this blog is about? Well, let me tell you what this is about. If you are looking for the ultimate solution for poverty, the one way to stop global warming, a cause for the real problems the world faces today, you are looking at the wrong page. This is just the insight of a college kid out to find herself and realise her dreams and place in this world. A girl hoping that one day all her confusions will go away and she will be able to laugh reading t...

Well, today, like any other day I was browsing through random quotes on Google, looking for lines which would interest me and basically just help pass time faster. And then I came across this one. And it actually got me into thinking- What would I want to do if I knew I could not fail? Life is such, we are all afraid of trying, fearing that the disappointment and sorrow we feel when we fail will be far greater than the amount we can take. Fear I guess, is the one threat to success or rather the quest for success. We feel it all the time. Take me for example. In school, I was so interested in graphic designing and photography. I felt it in me that one day all I wanted to do was design advertisements and also take pictures that would change the world. All through my school years, my books and walls bore testament to the passion in me for drawing and lettering. And of course my camera never left my side and all I would do when I was meant to be working was take pictures. In fact when I...

Happy republic day Indians.. Awakening or rather re-awakening comes in many forms.. The realisation of a sense of pride in being an Indian, in my case. Yes, we may be just be the 12th largest economy in the world, a 74th in the world rankings for corruption, second to only China in terms of population, but we as a nation have a lot to be proud of. Bollywood. Our democracy. The unity amongst us when tragedy strikes our countrymen. The goosebumps we feel when we hear our national anthem. The diversity of culture and language we have. The myriad traditions we still follow irrespective of how 'modernised' we have become.

It's 10 in the morning, sipping my coffee and as usual, there is a lot of thinking and processing happening inside my head. As usual, I was not sure about what to write about today. And then I see the 24 hour electricity 'they' have here, the 24 hour super fast internet, the fact that they have lectures on every day of the week apart from their bank holidays no matter how peeved they are at the functioning of their society, the fact that businesses can thrive without being stormed with demand letters.. And a realisation dawns on me- That is why they are said to be living in a developed country and that is why our country is a 'developing' one. And one just has to wonder, is it really developing? As you might have guessed, I do not study in Manipur. I am one of the thousands who were lucky enough to get the opportunity to study elsewhere within India and later outside the country. But others are not so fortunate as me. Every bandh, every strike, every curfew affect...

I wrote an article a while back, when the State was in turmoil because of a supposed 'fake' encounter of a supposedly 'innocent' person. I put these terms in quotes because as usual, I and am sure most Manipuris do not know what to believe and if we have learned anything from the past, it is that- Don't believe what you hear.. Far away, sounds of mock bombs exploding, rubber bullets firing, and sirens wailing. Deep inside, we can hear our own heartbeats beating faster and faster. What is the next day going to bring? More animosity? Or a miraculous change? Manipur has by now become a battlefield, between the Government and the people, while vultures loom, waiting to tear open the fallen. There are the passive few watching, with baited breaths, which is going to cast the next blow, which is going to fall. There are those who do not hesitate in tearing down the scapegoats, in this case, the Government. The people shout slogans against the Government, says the ...

A confession before I begin.. I am lazy, very lazy. In fact, I was just watching you-tube videos, relaxing and enjoying the perfect Saturday evening when a call from my father woke me up. He said -"Don't sit around, do something!'. And as I kept the phone down, I thought to myself the thousand and one things I had to do, and my mind automatically remembered this one thing I had been meaning to do since ages but which I had actually not got around to doing. Starting a Blog. Trying to get my voice heard, my opinions read. Many might share it, but I believe not many has tried to shout it out to the rest of the world. Hello World. I am from Manipur, a small almost insignificant state in the monstrous confusion we call India. I am one of the 23,88, 634 people living in this tiny State (according to the 2001 Census) and what links me to about 80% of the population is the discontentment we feel, the sufferings we bear at the hands of the remaining 20% who wield guns and instill...