Little Pooja

I had the most amazing experience at New Market today. I always love going to new market, as the place makes me happy. just happy. for so many reasons. and what happened today just added to the it.

I met a little girl, who was selling stuff (like hair clips, safety pins, etc) in a basket. we were inside Nahums n she was lingering outside. i ignored her completely while she was waving out to me n flashing her basket full of goodies. but then she started speaking in english n that's when i took notice. no, not because she spoke "english", but because of the way she did it. she wasn't dressed any better than a beggar, n her overall appearance wasn't to impressive either. but she still smiled n took the effort to speak a language that didnt come natuarlly to her. i was so impressed.

i learnt that her name was pooja n she has been working in the area for the last 10 years. she could not have been any more than 11 or 12, n i was told that she used to beg before n now she sells. it was the most wonderful thing i heard in a long time n it really made me happy. i didnt need any of the things she was selling, but i just bought something to encourage her. i had a brief conversation with her n she told me that she goes to school every single day n loves to study. n all the while she spoke in english, n most of it was perfect :)

it really made my day. i was so happy to see a little girl fighting against all odds n doing well too (i would definitely say so coz very few people give up begging n get enrolled in schools, n that too while coming from a background like that).

next time i go to new market, i'll surely hope to meet pooja n ask her how well she is doing in school :)) GOD BLESS HER!!!

once more....

once more...just once more someone tells me "teaching is the best job for a woman", i'll kill them.

it's so frigging annoying to hear this. its just plain ridiculous. ufffff!! why r ppl so weird?!! i'm so tired of having to hear this everytime i tell sum1 wat i do. "oh ur a teacher...wonderful...thats the best job for a girl.".....like women cant do anything else...like they were only born to cook n clean n reproduce....n they should only hav a job that lets them come back at 1 pm so that they can do all that.

GAWD!!!!

i didnt take up teaching bcoz i thot it was well suited for me, the woman....it was just well suited for ME, irrespective of my gender. am pretty sure i would have been a teacher even if i were a boy. n wat the heck...the best teachers i hav had over the years have all been men....starting from mr ross in class 5 to berty dasilva in college.

ppl, specially the i-have-left-my-brains-in-the-16th-century middle aged indian men (and some women too!), need to grow up. BIG TIME!

Hoola - Hooped

ever tried hoola hooping? if u havent, u MUST! its just the most fun thing! i was actually inspired by a bunch of 8 year old girls. it always amazes me as to how those little girls twirl the hoops around themselves with so much ease. i, for some reason, never tried doing it. i always had an idea that i wont b able to do it.

that was till today.

all it took for me to get hooked on to the hoop was a little bit of begging from 3 little girls who insisted i play with them too. their toy was...well...the mighty hoop n i only complied. secretly i had been hoping all these days that they would ask me to join them, so wen it happened today i was overjoyed!

it didnt go too well initially. i had a tough time trying to keep it off the floor...but once i got the hang of it, there really was no stopping me. n the poor kids were kinda hoping they didnt invite me to the game! "Ma'am can i please have a turn now", "ma'aam the bell's going to ring...i want to show u a new trick"...they tried it all, but i refused to give the hoop back :D

may sound mean now, but if u were there, u wud have known y i turned a deaf ear to them. hehe! n then when i had to give it up, i went over to the other group n skipped. it was a lot of fun too, but then that's sumthin i've done before...so wat the heck!!

i sometimes envy myself for having the best job in the world. who else gets to (literally) play in the middle of the day....n not just play FARMVILLE! :P

questions

when it was there i didnt value it

when i lost it i wanted it

but i wonder if i really need it

but i am scared i wont b able to do without it

why do i hav to feel so bad

why does the pain make me so mad

wht oh why

if there is one thing that really makes me mad, its the bandh culture of west bengal. it is so horrible that i cant even begin to explain how i feel everytime i hear there's a bandh. it's like we dont even live in a democracy n some ppl can do whatever they want, whenever they want.

was just watching the news on TV n saw a group of hooligans torching a state bus near sealdah. n then after a few days these very ppl who apparently belong to the "middle class" n cant afford vehicles of their own n so curse n taunt the so called "privilaged few" for owning cars, will complain that the govt does nothing for them, not even prvide enough buses. n wen i see them torching buses like this n destroying property wich their 10 generations put together also cant imagine to own, it makes me so angry. they really deserve to travel under bad conditions...let them have to go to work everyday in the crowded bus, getting shoved n molested. afterall they torched that extra bus that cud hav shared the passenger load. bloody morons!

wen i was younger, i use to like bandhs...simply coz it meant an extra holiday...most ppl still hav the same outlook regarding bandhs. but i really wish ppl took a look at the broader picture. wat good wud a bandh ever do? the unreasonable demands r almost never met wit, or the so called action is never taken agaisnt anyone. so ultimately a bandh becomes nothing but a blatent show of power...how it is openly misused. the political terrorists walk rite into our lives n ruin it, quite literally so. think abt a daily wage earner...where does a bandh leave him? wat abt a rickshaw wala n the others who get to eat if they get work on that day? n lets not even talk abt the industries running away from "waste bengal"!

i really wish this place wakes up to reality. i am one of the few ppl i know who loves this city so much, n now even i wanna move out. i hate this, but i wish things improve. who r we bluffing? we've got nothing, n by the look of things, nothing but disorder will b achieved.

sigh.......................................................................