Vegetarianism vs. Non.

You know how vegetarians and vegans always act all self-righteous when it comes to eco-friendly talk? It's bugging, and, truthfully, guilt-inducing. They tell you how they're "not cutting up innocent little animals to tear apart and ingest" so they're more "environment friendly"; even if they don't bother dropping their litter in to a trashcan, because, they, of course, have done their part by not eating animals, so what does it matter if in their process of littering, some stray cat or dog might choke on it and die? They've done all the good they possibly can. Psh.

To all those people, here's what I think: If you've noticed, animals who are a part of nature, eat other animals. There's a class for them; they're called carnivores. Now, if eating animals was cruel and unnatural, this class wouldn't exist. But they do.

So you see, being non-vegetarian does not mean not caring about other animals. I don't believe there's any problem with killing animals for food, like the lion, the tiger or even the Drosera capensis (carnivorous plant - yea, I'm showing off now ) do.

The problem comes when humans kill for sport. We have got to stop equating 'prestige' or 'maniliness' with the head of a deer mounted on your wall. I mean, seriously, hiding behind a bush and pointing a gun at the animal when it's got it's back turned; I fail to see the bravery or chivalry or 'prestige' in that. That's what we're doing wrong; that's what's hurting the planet; and that's what we've got to stop.

Vegetarianism is a personal choice, and while I respect those people who are vegetarians for not wanting to harm any animals from their part, I don't believe in condemning non-vegetarians for being natural. It's only when we stop being natural and start being all too human that our real ugliness shows.

I close with the well known words of Mahatma Gandhi : " Earth has enough for every man's need, but not for every man's greed."

Siblings

Having a sibling was something that, I must truthfully say, I never took for granted. I prayed for years, every day, hoping to get a life-long playmate. When it came however, 7 years after me, I forgot the enormity of the gift I was given. I began to feel jealous, inferior, lesser-loved - standard older sibling behavior. Mind you, I remembered, in the dead of night, and in my fitful dreams, the love and respect that my little brother had for me; but these seemed to vanish with the breaking of dawn, leaving me to think of more 'important', worldly, things.
I'm no 'Sister-zella', I just exaggerate a bit, but this was something that kept cropping up in my mind.

Until, that is, I met someone who didn't have a sibling. She used to sleep in her parent's bedroom because she had never wanted a sibling, she said. That made me wonder about all those people out there, who were unaware of what they were missing out on. They had never known the joy of cuddling up to watch a ridiculous movie with their bleary-eyed little twerps at 3 in the morning; never fought over who got to sleep on the upper bunk at night; never shared the last drop of milkshake, or the last bite of chocolate; never been able to put off reading the climax of their novel to play 'house' or 'war' or 'school' or 'alien invasion' or whatever else it is that runs through that crazy little mind; never been able to receive the vast amount of endless, unfathomable respect that comes so naturally to a sibling.

I don't mean to doom single children to the pits of depravity, however. There are just-as-good substitutes - a very close cousin with whom you share all your secrets; a friend who respects and understands you like no other; or your true love who accepts you for who and what you are. And sometimes, even people who have other brothers or sisters, may still feel as though a friend or a cousin is as close to them as their own siblings.

This profound and unique bond of 'sibling-hood', where you're finishing each other's sentences and thinking up the same tricks to pull on each other,does not seem to exist anywhere or in anything else.

For the gift of my sibling, I am, finally, completely grateful.

I dedicate this song, from Phineas and Ferb, to all the siblings, cousins,friends and little brothers out there :

Floppy

No, not outdated hardware. I'm talking about my dog.

You know when you've had a particularly lousy day at your educational institution/workplace, where everyone's been eagerly telling you all day, how the class/company would prosper, if only you'd get up and leave; and all you need's a pick-me-up? Well, Floppy's my pick-me-up. When I feel like I've lost all confidence in myself (a feeling that recurs every 15 mins or so), i just walk up to my dog, and she looks at me like I'm Christmas come early. The loyalty, trust and idolization that emanates out of your dog is physically staggering! And the best part is, she loves you for who you are! Not for the I've-got-it-all-together-all-the-time diva you pretend to be everywhere else.

And it's not just her being all cute. Oh no, if you know Floppy, you know that she is almost always thinking of ways to eat that fern or chase that toad without your noticing it. No, it's sometimes her helplessness that makes me feel good about myself. Like yesterday, when we were going into my grandmother's Forbidden Garden (which has a fence around it. Floppy's been ban

ned from there ever since she decided roses were better than bones). I would usually

just carry Floppy over the fence, but that day I wanted to see if Floppy could jump at least over that knee-high fence. She saw my brother and I go in, and started to follow. She, well, flopped, half-way over it, and then decided she didn't want

to do that. Which is when she realized that a fence poking into your hind quarters isn't exactly fun. So she started whining until I ran and picked her up over the fence and into the Garden, where she stopped crying instantly, and ran to the nearest bush. But that's Floppy.

There goes my little drop of sunshine with...is that a rose?? Floppy, get back here, you nitwit!!

Faith

I like most fantasy fiction books. One of the authors I read is Philip Pullman. He's a proclaimed atheist. Now I don't mind that - he can have done all the research he wanted to do and come to the conclusion that God doesn't exist - that's entirely up to him. But what gets on my nerves is when he tries to propagate his belief through his books, especially since, I'm sure he's aware, they're read by children; and by children who would otherwise have ignored it, if it wasn't the opinion of the hero they had been idolizing from the beginning of the book.

Here's another thing about faith, which differs from religion - unlike religion, which varies from community to community, faith varies for each individual. This, I think, is good. Because you can't wage holy wars if each of us have a different opinion.

But what I don't like is other people telling me how to pray, or how to see God. It's understandable that we have to go through the rituals to maintain communal or societal harmony and unity, but it's not fair when someone tells me that the way I see the Almighty is wrong. I like the way I see God. It's why I see Him that way.

As my dad always loves saying, "Live and let live. To each his own Faith."

Indian Nationality

Here's the problem with an Indian's respect for nationality - there isn't one. I know this because I went through that adolescent phase convinced that Gandhi was a mere picture held up by corrupt politicians to disguise what they were doing. It took the movie, Gandhi (ironically made by Westerners) and a bit of research, for me to realize his greatness.

The difference between an Indian's sense of nationality and that of say, an American's, is that in America, national pride has been built up just as you would the brand of a new product. The red, white and blue flag has always been waving in the backgrounds of their movies and all their politicians (whether reel or real) speak about the country's essential 'oneness'. We don't have that here. Here, Bollywood movies are meant for North Indians, and South Indians have their own movies. There is no convergence. Hence, we see that in society as well : a differentiation between the people of one country. What we need is the building of a brand image, and the brand we should be able to sell is pride in our heritage.