mansibhatia's blog

Expectations, hopes and aspirations
Perfect ingredients to stifle your relations
To wish for something to be done for you,
To expect reciprocation for all you do
That’s not a relationship — that’s a deal,
A contract that two parties seal.
When you love someone, you only give
For a smile, a look, a loving hug, you live.
 

It took me three readings to realize that Vincent Augustine D’Souza wasn’t joking or being sarcastic in his post about marital rape being an oxymoron. He says:
 

A woman who does not want to have sex with her husband should separate from him and file for divorce.

 
And goes on to add that:
 

Today I am welcoming newlyweds to their home. It’s an honor and quite a responsibility given that this is a ritual reserved for a family member. And I am just their friend.
Somehow … somewhere we transcended that line — the one that separates kinship and comradeship.

Have you ever had an instance where you thought something you really shouldn’t have and then blurted it out, too?
 
I try to have my verbal filters in place for the most part … but sometimes the thinking happens after the speaking.
 
Like last week when I blurted out “I am so glad it wasn’t sunny for you in Jamaica!”
 

One of the most popular posts of all time on this blog has been the one in which I doled out advice to new parents from the vantage point of an objective bystander.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve reached a point in my life where I just don’t want to abide by the 9 to 5 routine (technically, 8:30 to 5:30).
 

Every time I visit India, I am hit in the face with gender discrimination. Some obtuse remark, action, or general sense of “women are lesser than men” reminds me we still have a long way to go when it comes to mass societal acceptance that women can do everything men can equally well — sometimes better.
 

The other side…
 Two and a half years ago when I visited my hometown I was shocked to see huge malls spouting everywhere.
I distinctly remember going to one such overcrowded shopping hub with my parents one evening — it was teeming with people, most of whom were gawkers … folks from nearby villages coming with their families on an “outing.”

This one is for Hindi speaking individuals — for those of you who aren’t native Hindi speakers, I’m sure you’ll find the following post amusing (weigh in if you’d like with examples in your own native language).