City of Dreams

As I am a literature student and I read almost all genres , I had a fancy to write prose. It is a direct way to converse with your readers and it is really a challenge to make it interesting . But now when I am writing prose I have no idea what kind of prose and style it is. I am just writing what ever my heart says I should write. Today I am feeling like writing something and I am so glad that I have my own space and I need not think before writing anything .

When a man wakes up from a nightmare he asks himself - Where I am? I am asking this question to myself - Answer? - I am lost in the City of Dreams. I can see vacant streets . I am sure many have walked on this road before me. But it is dark... I can see no footprints. Shall I walk in this city and find my destination or go back where there is light and people around me? Light --- Light --- Light--- ..... Why can't I light these dark streets? If I dont have a match stick why can't I wait for the Morning Glorious Light. Wait? --- How long will I have to wait?

We are such stuff as Dreams are made of and our little life is rounded with sleep.... (Shakespeare)
I wish we were dreams... I wish life was covered with sleep so that we could forget everything ... why the river of Oblivion; Lethe can be seen only after life? We need to forget things in this life only. But no, why we want to forget those dreams which we could not fulfil. Why! there is still life. There is still strengeth in my body. Warrior of Light never stops fighting with darkness. But I am not afraid of darkness , I am more afraid of loneliness. I can not see anyone in My City of Dreams... everyone is lost in his own City. Am I expecting much? At least they bear ... they hear my stupid  dreams , isn't that enough? And who threw me in the abyss of this Dark Dream City?... I myself came here ... it was my choice. Then why I seek a friend ? Why I seek a helping hand to build the castle of my Dreams? .... Brick by brick I will build my own Castle... all bricks which I collected till now... and if any storm will shake my castle or break my bricks I will give birth to more bricks... & more bricks... I will not stop dreaming and working... till either I am turned into a Big Castle of Dreams  or destroyed and spreaded like sand everywhere....

Fun & Masti with lots of Learning

 Workshops , camps , festivals , programs always spread positive energy around the people who attend them. For five days Jawahar Kala Kendra was glittering with positive vibes. I could feel a change from first day to last day . It was as if scattered pieces are slowly coming together . There was so much diversity of creativity in the workshop , everyone was very creative as well as hungry for knowledge and skills.

I was personally interested in all three skills which were being taught there – Comics , Theatre & Film making . Of course , film-making attracts a lot but I knew right now I needed to learn a simple yet an effective skill which I can use through my creativity and teach others too .. so , Comics was for me and I am so happy that ,I chose it                                         (-kabila dance)

Well… well… well… before taking you into the sessions which we had of our skill , I would like to show you some glimpses of outside fun which we had through different games . On first day , due to hesitation lots of people could not come out of their shell to make new friends – I was also one of them , I was stick to my old friend only but we played a game where you will have to choose randomly anyone and Know him/her in two minutes… it was very interesting I made two friends there only. After this “silsila” of games was on and we enjoyed all the games , new & interesting. These games were called “energizers” and they boosted our energy and spiced our Fun. Wait – let me tell you the very  first “Value” of Pravah, who organized the workshop  – Fun with Learning. And exactly five days we didn’t realize – whether we are having Fun in Learning or Learning in Fun… but whatever it was – it was Awesome. Oh! did I tell you that though we were physically in Jaipur but we roamed around the whole world through our superb energizers. One of the very different experience was “Kabila” . The whole group of 30-35 people were asked to form a “kabila” , give it a name , prepare its song and dance. The name of our kabila was – JIM HAKUBA TAM TAM TORA TORA SA SA … J So we did it successfully – and Guess what --- we actually looked like the “Kabila” and it seemed if today we are thrown in the jungles of Andaman we will make a great original “Kabila”.. ahh… the word “original” reminded  me of something—Aasif sir (theatre guru) gave me a name – O.C. – Original copy… see its an example ! we lived like a family – when we were together no one was from theatre , comics or film making – we all were One –  one of the motto of Pravah – “Me to We”… and of course it didn't come on the very first day but it was a gradual journey. 

Now have a look at our inside sessions –It was really great , we got to know that we are not learning simple comics but its called – Grassroot comics . A story told by pictures is called comics and when this comics is made on some important issues and problems of layman its called Grassroot comics . I loved it because anyone can make it with very few things – a black sketch pen and 2 A4 size papers . Well… we learnt so much in 4 days – to make cartoons , give special effects , give a title to comics and so on…   But with learning we had lots of fun… for example – We had to bear  Dilip’s songs and queries. Yash  and Rajesh irritated me a lot. We chatted on different topics.. shared our experiences…Our trainer Pankaj bhaiya and Abhishek bhaiya were very friendly … I always tried to call them “sir” but I could never because they never treated us like students… they encouraged a lot and taught us to make cartoons in very funny way J

Well … I don’t know much about the inside stories of other sessions but as everyday in the morning we recalled last day’s experiences, I had some idea on the basis of it which I will tell you , the tit-bits of other sessions – Theatre learners learnt small skills of theatre and I could see on Finale how they took out the hidden actor in themselves. Though everyone complained that five days is a very short period to learn such art but they still make something out of it . Same with the film making students – 5 days is a very small period … but as they told us they enjoyed the time , got familiar with camera and… they learnt “How to think…” because their trainer Akshay Bhaiya would ask them to “think..” and disappear for several minutes …J  Our all trainers were very friendly and enjoyed with us , they actively took part in all games… so the whole atmosphere was so strongly Positive with Creativity , Fun & Learning…

We not only learnt the skills we chose but also about “Active Citizenship” . We were shown a documentary also – Dark Zone – on water problem , made by Rakesh Gogna. Thus we did so many things in four days , I am not able to mention all of them here. Last day we went into a “Kachhi Basti” and there we interacted with people , especially kids. It was an another different experience.

  

Now I am just waiting for the next workshop by Pravah… Only by Pravah because I know the way they made learning Fun and taught Active citizenship as well as the chosen skill very friendly … hardly any other group/NGO can do…

So---- We Rock !!!!

Cheers! 

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

This is my first ever article to be published in any magazine. As after many days I opened the magazine & read it again , I felt like putting it up here so that Some Friends around me who are obsessed with their body image should read this. :)

Published in Srijan - A new Vision (A magazine of Women Studies Centre) ; 2008-2009 , Banasthali University

Body Dysmorphic Disorder -

Can you imagine a girl asking again & again about her face and looks? Oh! I know that makes her a girl but do you know it can also mean that she is suffering from BDD- Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Those who suffer from this disease are always preoccupied with their beauty or body image.

Beware if you look in a mirror for a long time analyzing your face and body because you can be a patient of BDD, if a slight defect on your face like the size of your nose or a scar left after a pimple disturbs you a lot and you constantly ask for reassurance even though the defect is not too obvious , you might be suffering from BDD.

My sister has given up all her happiness because of her pimples , she would call me up , cry and refuse to go anywhere outside . Same is the case with my friend Shalini who would shut her up in a room because she thinks her color is too dark and everybody would make fun of her. Psychologists believe that a negative body image is related to low self-esteem.

Doctors believe that this disorder is largely seen in adolescents and teenagers . Although it can happen to both girls and boys, usually girls are seen more affected by this. Those who have done simple or multiple reconstructive surgeries are also known to suffer from BDD.

Feminists claim that the media creates a particular beauty image and thus throws negative impact upon common people. Media is also responsible for encouraging people to go for cosmetic products and surgeries. People are also being attracted towards outer beauty because beauty products and cosmetic surgeries are advertised so much and they are easily available to them.

Everything has its pros & cons . Cosmetic surgery has also its bad and good effects but one should always keep in mind its bad effects before going for it. Well, Athena Paul has said it rightly in her book Girlosophy , " Rather than make up your face , make up your mind". Your universe is a reflective image of your mind. So keep beautiful things there and your world automatically become beautiful. "Real natural beauty never goes out of fashion." also says Athena Paul. Beauty's life span is very short but real inner virtues last long.

Beauty is just an idea and not an object itself. So just don;t worry if you are not beautiful according to people's mind set because your happiness is not dependent upon other people but on your own idea.
Remember only one thing - just believe that you are really superb , unique and God's special child and many people love you and need you not because of your looks but because of your virtues. And yes , never forget to wear a smile - a free of cost expression , better than thousand cosmetic products.

-Ojasi mehta

Blogger World & English Poetry

Quite tensed is the blog scene now-a-days for me at least. My friends honor me by asking to review their work and I find myself in the most difficult position . Firstly, because I am a student of literature itself and unfortunately*  I think I have inherited The Great Tradition of Literature & Criticism. (*Unfortunately , because I sincerely believe -  Its folly to be wise where Ignorance is bliss) . Secondly , it becomes the case of "personal fallacy" in criticism as they are my friends and its very natural that my reviews are affected by the nature of my relationship with them.

I know I have not read much of literature but whatever I have read till now , by that and by my own nature I have formed few notions about the language & style of poetry in English Language. I strongly believe in Wordsworth's theory of poetry that it is - " spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions", and the language of poetry should be everyday language of common man because then it serves the first aim of poetry to give pleasure. And pleasure can only be derived  when without extra efforts you can understand the meaning of poem and when you understand the meaning you flow with the current of poem , deriving immense pleasure.

Now lets come to the point, lets talk about the Blogger World and its English Poets. Not every blogger is a scholar of literature but everyone of them have some thoughts which they feel they should pen down. But in jotting down their thoughts in the form of poem , the true nature of their thoughts is lost. May be it happens because of unconscious urge to attract attention and appreciation and then to be called an "intellectual". But poetry is not only about "intellect" , its the synthesis and harmony of "intellectual thought" and 'emotions". If you want to prove your intellect go and try your hand in Criticism or even Fiction. Its really sad to see that many bloggers do not understand the true nature of poetry. The most whimsical thing is that they work so hard to search difficult words to make a poem - a poem whose power of thought is so weak that after making the poem only structure remains and else all beauty is perished , meaning is lost. Hard diction is pardonable if thoughts are very powerful and myths , allusions , allegory & imagery have been used to strike a balance. Childish poetic style and diction can still make us smile but inane phraseology can do nothing but irritate us.

After the modern revolution in poetry - mellifluous poems with inane diction are out of trend. In already complex world we need a heart to heart connection which , I think can only come by simplifying things around us.

- Ojasi Mehta

Biniding Love- Beyond Boundries

The hot summer afternoon of 9th April , a small room laced with a shelf of books and "gaddas" on floor and walls occupied with several colorful posters , a tv and dvd player and 10-15 curious young people - it was the office of Pravah Jaipur Initiative and we all were called up there for a movie screening - a documentary movie on Kabir. Everybody was chatting in low voices , I was sitting quietly as I was new at this place and knew no one particularly. I was quite excited about the movie but was afraid too as it could turn out very boring but I was wondering what others are talking about and not until the movie finished and some people confessed , I got to know they were also anticipating that movie would spoil their precious summer afternoon sleep. But guess what? After watching movie , everyone was in an ecstatic state , upon being asked the experience of movie , no one even could express the joy in words.

The movie was- Had Anhad , made by Shabnam Virmani under a kabir Project. It begins with a question - "Where I will find Ram?" And the first landscape is that of Ayodhya - Ram janm bhumi... but does she find Ram there? Some shopkeepers are interviewed by her and it is very realistic  to see that what people actually think about Babri Masjid Case. It is a war between Ego and Belief. A war on God's name - to find God or save God- but does God reside in temple or masjid? God would be pleased by such wars? Such questions take her from Ayodhya to Madhya Pradesh to Rajasthan and finally Pakistan. Through Kabir she tries to find all these answers . She meets different people in her journey who are either local singers (folk singers) of Kabir or related to Kabir in one or the other way. Finally  she goes to Pakistan where she feels most closest to Kabir and his philosophy.

Who is Kabir by the way ? - An incarnation of Vishnu ? A fakir or saint? A poet of Bhakti movement? A revolutionary man?  Why not go back and see him first as a man... but something definitely makes him different from an ordinary man and that's his knowledge of Self .

Had-Had Karke Sab Gaye,

Per Behad Gayo Na Koi.

Kabir had crossed the limits between Soul n Bramha. There is one fine example in movie to describe Kabir's position that one who is in ship says- "Shore is coming" , One who is on the shore says - "Land is coming" but for one who is above both , no one is coming and no one is going - Kabir was like this. 

When one knows himself , his own soul , from this knowledge one can embark on the journey of "search of God". And why kabir is relevant today? There are various reasons like his dohas and songs contain the eternal knowledge about  "soul" , "god", "life", "love" but the most prominent voice of his dohas and songs are - "Humanitarian" which today in the world threatened by terrorism , existentialism , depression and loss of faith on God, we need to understand badly. He teaches us to see everyone as human and worship one God whom he called "Ram" - his Ram is not Dashrath's son Ram , an incarnation of Vishnu but his Ram lives in everyone's heart and if we love everyone , we are worshiping God. 

Sakal Hans Mein Ram Viraje,

Ram Bina Koi Dham Nahi.

Ram resides in every soul,

There is no abode without Ram.

Through the screening of this movie , Pravah whose motto is - "Me to We" and whose Focus is on both "self" and "society" , tries to help us to see "what we are" , "who we are" , and "What we can do for our society and humanity?" 

- Ojasi Mehta