Too much of anti-racism?

Hello everybody,

I hope you are having a great day! I just came across this video today and wanted to share it here.

I had heard a lot about how in America it is very important to use specific words to describe people of a particular race and how one could get into major trouble if someone used an incorrect term to refer to them. 

I do completely agree that being rude to a person just because he/she belongs to a particular race or is from a particular country is unacceptable. However, being over sensitive about it just shows how insecure one is about one's own origin. People from different countries have a different upbringing. It is fascinating to know about things from other countries/cultures. If there is a constant fear of offending someone, we will never be able to get to know about other cultures. 

Each culture is beautiful in its own way and one must be proud of one's own origin. I remember, when I was in 12th grade, I had a friend who belonged to a different religion than me. I had tons of questions I wanted to ask her. The popular belief about that religion is that people are very strict followers and take offense easily. So, I used to think ten times in my mind before I asked her a question. Slowly as I got to know her better, I realized, she was quite open minded and nothing like what the media portrayed them to be. I'm sure a lot of other friends just avoided conversation with her just to ensure that they never offended her in anyway. 

By being oversensitive, we are just preventing spread of knowledge and increasing the barriers. I know, people will ask a lot of questions based on stereotypes that are shown in the media. But this is the opportunity to show that there is more to your culture! 

These are my personal opinions. Do let me know your opinions on the matter in the comments below!

Until next time,

Bye! :D

Bitten off more than I can chew?

Hello everybody,
It has been so long since I last published a post here. Grad school is super hectic and I've been living from deadline to deadline. Its ok to live on a tight schedule for a short duration... when you see an end in sight; but off late I don't see an end to this! I just finished picking courses for my next semester and I've again chosen really hard courses. One of them was a course I had to finish, that is a heavy course and wanted to finish it off. However, I've also chosen a PhD level elective class. We have a lottery system for choosing classes and I got a really late number. I had very few options and thought this seemed interesting. Now I'm having serious doubts about my decision. This semester, I chose fairly moderate load classes and I've been working really hard keeping up. I have no idea how I'll manage next sem. On top of all of this, next semester, I'll have to seriously start interviewing and applying for internships in Summer 16. So till the end of next sem, I think I'll have this crazy hectic schedule. It feels like the sem has just about started and its already time for finals!
I've had quite a few ideas for posts but have put them away for lack of time. I thought I'd take a few minutes off to post at least this.
A friend has taken three heavy load courses this time and is managing fine! I hope I'll be able to manage next semester without a huge negative impact on my GPA.
Among other things, quite a few of my friends are going back home in December. I know that it doesn't make sense for me to go back now, as my parents would probably be visiting in June 16. However, when I see them all excited I feel really sad. It'll be at least a year before I get to see little Tee. By then, he may have forgotten me! I can't bear to think of that situation. I hope some miracle happens and they find a super easy way to transport pets overseas. (Or that he'll start responding to me over the phone or when we skype)
Will resume studying for my test now :/.

Until next time,
Bye! :D

What if I was born as a boy?

Hello everybody,
I hope you're having/had a great day today! Stephanie Mayer recently announced that she will be releasing a new book titled Life and Death which will be a re-imagined version of twilight but with gender roles swapped. That should be interesting! I also watched a video of a girl putting on make up to look like a boy. She looked funny... but I could imagine her as a guy. This got me thinking... what would I have been like if I was born as a boy?! Crazy! I know, but here are a few things that I think would be different.

Looks
I look a lot like a girl (that sounds really weird); I mean, some females have slightly masculine faces and some feminine, I think my face is slightly feminine. Also, since I rarely wear any makeup or get my eyebrows plucked, it wasn't too hard to imagine how I would look. There are so many hairstyle apps available. Some months back I had tried one of these apps, and it had a few boy hairstyles too. With that on, I thought I could have passed off as a boy!! It was really weird; but funny!
I'm quite short; so if I was a boy (I hopefully would have been slightly taller than I am now), I would most probably be teased/bullied for being too short.

Even Emma Watson (who I think has the most feminine face) looks like a boy sometimes! :P

Source

Personality
This is really hard to imagine. I would like to think that my personality is based on who I am and not based on who I am expected to be; but I'm sure my environment, society etc has played a huge role in creating my personality. Also the fact that I have no brothers makes it harder for me to think what a guy would like and not like had he grown up in the same environment that I did. But trying to think about things that are really me and not qualities that I've developed because of the society, here's what I think I would be like:
I hate conflicts and try to avoid them whenever possible. I love things that can be explained logically and try to find a logical/scientific explanation for everything. I hate any form of sports and have no interest at all in watching any game. However, I do enjoy playing video games and am pretty good at a few. I love technology and hate it when I'm in a conversation where someone else knows more than me about some technology. I am quite modest and rarely show off. I hear guys usually brag about every little achievement. So, I think I would show off my skills/abilities a little more if I was a boy. I don't talk a lot and I think that would be something that wouldn't have changed. I am quite emotional with regard to some issues and people, but I don't always give into my feelings and take irrational decisions.
Overall, I think would be a soft spoken, sensitive, law abiding person with a few good friends. (That line could describe me even now! Maybe girls and guys are not too different after all.. but then again, I don't think such guys exist! :P)

Interests
I am a big fan of Disney; I watch a lot of teenage drama kinda shows. I don't think I would be into those if was a boy. Disney maybe; I have a friend (who is a boy) who loves all things Disney as much as I do! I like teenage drama shows because usually the main character is a girl (whom I can relate to); I can't think of any shows with a guy as the main character;  so I don't know what I'd like TV/movies wise. The most popular genre among guys is action; so, maybe I would like such movies. But, there is noting in those movies that an ordinary person can relate to! I don't know... maybe there is something relatable. The shows that I watch also don't have people like me in it... but I still enjoy watching them, Maybe its a guy thing and maybe I'd have understood it if I were a guy.
As I mentioned above, I love technology, gadgets etc and I think I would be even more interested in them as a guy.
I enjoy writing, but I rarely find guys interested in stuff like this. Yes there are a lot of male authors; but that's different. I don't think I would have had a blog if I was a boy. Maybe I would've just played video games in my free time.

Career path
This one is pretty easy. I'm 99% sure I'd still be pursuing the same career path. Being an 'IT guy' is slightly more common than being an 'IT girl'. So, I think career wise I would be in the very same place that I am in now.

Friends
I don't like talking to strangers, but I make friends easily. Although that sounds contradictory, its not! If I need to ask someone a question, a favour etc, I feel very uncomfortable. However, I don't have a problem introducing myself and befriending someone of my age who goes to my same school/college. So, I have a lot of people I know/ am "friends" with; but I have very few close/true friends. And most of my friends are girls. Even in the larger group of "friends" very few are guys. So swapping the case, I would have a large group of guys that I am friends with, a small group of very close friends and a few girls that I know fairly well.

Ah! Finally, I've reached the end of this very weird post. It was really hard and amusing trying to imagine myself as a guy. I don't think I (the girl me) like this... would be very impressed with me (the guy me). I'm glad I wasn't born as a boy! Anyway, have you ever imagined yourself as a boy/girl? Would you like yourself (your gender swapped self)? Do let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
Bye! :D 

#IAmNotAFruit!?

Hello everybody,
I hope you are having a great day today!
As I scrolled through my Facebook feed today, I came across this video where women were saying 'I am not a fruit'. It was a protest video against generalizing women's body types into categories based on fruits (apple, pear and banana). Here is a link to the video. I strongly believe that any kind of shaming is wrong and everyone is free to wear any kind of clothing that they fancy. That being said, I think it is trivial to protest against anything and everything that is said about the body. Magazines do say what flatters each body type and what doesn't; but that's just the view of one stylist/fashion guru (dunno the exact terminology; I rarely read such stuff). Its upto each individual whether they want to read about it, follow it, let it bother them etc. A lot of people like being told what to wear and what not to. And some others like deciding on their own. When there are people who want advise, and people who are willing to give it, I don't see why anyone else needs to get involved. It is hard for anyone to give advise without any form  of generalization especially when they're addressing such a large audience. For such convenience sake, if they categorize body types, I don't see any harm in it.
Ultimately, you decide what you choose to wear. When no one's calling you a fruit, I don't see why you need to say you're not one!
This is just my personal opinion. I don't intend to put down anyone; I just feel that was something trivial to protest against. Again, this is just my opinion. Do let me know about your opinions. I'm open to counter opinions too and would love to hear the other side too!  
Until next time,
Bye! :D

10 things I find strange about America

Hello everybody,
Its been a month since I landed in USA and I find a lot of things strange here. Some good, some bad; here is a list of top 10 things that I find weird about USA. (This one's going to be a long post!)

1) Everything comes in large sizes.
This is probably one of the most well known things about America; but I had to put this on the top of my list. Onions the size of cricket balls! Ridiculous! On the other hand, I saw some baby carrots at the store and they were TINY! I could never imagine carrots could be so tiny. They were really sweet too!
Last week, I saw something rustling behind a bush. It looked like a cat or a dog; but I've never seen strays here. So I was a little curious to see what it could be. A minute later I saw this huuge big squirrel. A squirrel the size of a cat! That can happen only in America!!
Ice cream packs are big; no... anything that is packed is in large quantities (most things; I've seen some really small sized packs too! But generally speaking they are big). The houses are big, the cars are big. It goes on.

2) People talk a lot.
Talking to strangers stresses me out and maybe this is the reason I find this weird. The first sentence anyone greets you with is 'Hey, how are you doing today?'. I'd prefer to answer it with just an 'I'm fine' (because that would end the conversation :P), but the preferred response is 'I'm good. How are you?'. Another question = more conversation. Moreover, I don't know you well enough to help you in anyway if you are not doing good. (But thankfully no one ever says anything other than 'I'm doing good too.'
Even at other places, waiting in queues, at stores etc, people will start a conversation even if you haven't been introduced to each other before. It is a good thing that people are friendly and approachable, but stressful for people who find it hard to interact with new people.

3) A lot of people use trucks or vehicles with a large open carrier compartment in the back.
I believe they are called 'pick up trucks'. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) A lot of people use these vehicles. I have no idea why anyone would need such vehicles on a day-to-day basis. I thought those vehicles were meant for transporting heavy goods. But I've seen a lot of common people use it as a mode of transportation and usually the carrier compartment is empty. Why buy such a big vehicle (and pay for extra fuel) for everyday use? I don't understand.

4) Washrooms are better lit than living rooms.
This was one thing me and a lot of my friends found strange. The living rooms, kitchen etc are quite dimly lit. However, washrooms have 4-10 bulbs and are really bright! Some of my friends, took off some bulbs from the washroom and plugged them in in the living room. Where I stay, the washroom has 8 bulbs and each time I switch on the light I feel guilty that I'm using that much of extra electricity.

5) Have classes for everything
If you want to learn something, you'll have a class for it. Recently I had been to a library and I saw a list of events that were lined up for this month. There were classes/sessions on such a wide range of topics! And it catered to all ages! Even at college, info sessions keep happening. Even if it is just a bunch of stuff that you can find on the internet, they'll have a class for it. (I think its wonderful!) You may be able to find it on your own; but if someone conducts a class and tells you the same thing, you'll have more faith in it as it has more authenticity.

6) You'll want to buy EVERYTHING! (Too much of consumerism)
There is a 'new and improved' version of everything you can imagine. And the variety available is endless! I recently visited a store that sells art and craft supplies; it was so pretty! Especially the aisles with the Christmas stuff... I wanted to buy everything in that aisle! I loove glitter and everything there was fully glittered up! I, a twenty-one year old (on a strict budget) found it hard to get through the store without buying unnecessary stuff; I could completely understand my 4-year old nieces' excitement (and eventual disappointment when she wasn't allowed to buy anything).

The amount of merchandise available for any movie/ character etc is too high! For example, a chapsitck with just a brand name on it won't interest kids; but if it has a picture of Elsa on it (especially if it has some glitter on it) they need it! The other day, I saw a pack of grapes with a frozen sticker on it! We just passed the aisle and my niece immediately shot back and picked it up and insisted that she needed the grapes! As soon as a new character catches the fancy of kids, they'll want everything new again!

7) No traffic and smooth roads
Ah! This is one thing that I've been loving ever since I got here. The city where I used to live was known for its traffic jams. I used to spend 4 hours on a an average each day in traffic, and this was what hit me the very minute I got here. The roads are wide and smooth. (I haven't seen a single pothole on any road!) And people follow rules so well! And pedestrians are given so much respect! I find it extremely funny when cars stop when I'm waiting to cross the road. Initially I wan't aware that people would actually stop if they saw someone standing on the pavement at intersections (in the college campus). A friend was amused by this too. The other day, she was standing on the pavement, thinking about which way to go, and then a car stopped. She never realized that the car stopped because she was standing there. A few seconds later when another car stopped and the person driving the car gestured for her to cross, she realized that they had stopped because she was standing there! She was totally embarrassed for having made two cars wait! I find it strange even now and avoid reaching junctions when I see a car approaching.

8) Everything is spreeaaad out
I'm sure this doesn't apply to ALL of America, but its true for quite a few parts of America that I've been to (I did visit quite a few states during my previous visit). You rarely have trouble finding a spot to park you vehicle, crowded stores etc. There are large empty spaces in front of houses, parks are huge... in general, everything is spread out. (Of course not everywhere!) I did see tall buildings, crowded places in the downtown parts of the city.

9) Everything is automated
Everything runs on electricity, has a mind of its own and is connected to the internet! I've heard that IoT (Internet of Things) is going to be the next big thing technology wise, but I'm actually seeing it in effect here. America is technologically advanced. That's a well-known fact. But the role technology plays in everyday life is something one must experience to understand.
I found digital toll booths very fancy! Where I lived, toll booths used to be a bottle neck for traffic, and here, one need not even stop to pay the toll! A machine scans a sticker on your windshield and the money is transferred from your account! How wonderful!
Many other little things like this are automated.

10) Bad healthcare
This is one major drawback I've noticed. America is well known for its medical advancement; however, the availability of basic healthcare is limited! Insurance plays such a big role here! Where I lived, there were plenty of good doctors available, and one could schedule an appointment for the same day or the next day easily. Here, wait times are so long, the person would probably have recovered before they meeting the doctor! Also, I find that doctors here tend to talk about the worst case scenario and scare patients. I know its better for patients to know about possible implications of their illness, but I think it isn't right to tell them about the worst case possibility before getting sufficient evidence that it could be it. I generally tend to avoid visiting doctors, so I'm not very sure about what I expect them to do, but this is what I feel from what I've heard about other peoples' experiences that I've heard about.

So these are the top ten things that I find strange about America. There are a few more things,like the freedom to dress as you like (Contrary to what is shown in movies, I think people are not very  judgmental about what you wear.) ; but these are the top ten according to me.
(P.S. These are my opinions based on the little part of America that I've seen so far. I may be completely wrong about some stuff, so, if you think I was wrong about generalizing something, please do let me know!)

Until next time,
Bye! :D

One more thing, I participated in a collab post on 'Party ideas' over at the wonderful (yet ordinary) life of me! (Here is the link to the post) Do take a look at it! It has some really cool ideas posted by fellow bloggers! :D

Disqus!

Hello Everybody!
I hope you're having a great day today! I have a new improvement on my blog today! Did you notice it?? I have enabled Discus for the comments section! I'm really new to Discqus but I really liked how it looks. It had been such a long time since I did anything to make my blog better, I thought this could be one nice improvement!
Do you like it? Please do let me know in the comments! :D :D
Until next time,
Bye! :D

Growing young

Hello everybody!
Hope you're having a great day! I've been MIA for the past few weeks because I've been experiencing so many new things and trying to get used to a whole new country. So far, I'm loving USA. I miss my parents and Tee a lot; but with whatsapp and skype, its not too bad. Another huge advantage that I have is that I live with my sister and her family. I have an adorable 4 year old niece and I spend a lot of my free time with her. Off late, I feel much younger! I am quite lazy and lethargic by nature and used to spend a lot of time watching TV or scrolling through fb. With my niece (let me call her A) around, I don't get to sit around much. After spending these past few weeks with her, I've started enjoying playing with her more than sitting in front of the computer! I've never been good with kids; I don't know how to engage them. I've never even had any desire of doing so before. A is the first child I've ever lived with. She's become really close to me and she puts me at ease! Earlier, I never knew what to do with kids. After being around A for these few weeks, I've realized, I don't need to do anything! I just need to find the kid in me and enjoy myself!
When we take A to the park, I never used to get on the slide and other play equipment. Play equipment is for kids and grown ups like me shouldn't get onto them was my thought! (I thought it wouldn't support my weight! :P But the play equipment here is really heavy duty; I've seen well-built 6 foot people getting onto them to help their kids) I finally got onto one once as A kept asking me to play with her; and it was SO much fun! I loved sitting on the swing for hours when I was a kid. The other day I sat on a swing after roughly 8-10 years! God! What an amazing feeling it was! It brought back all my childhood memories. It was early in the morning, and I could see the green grass all around for quite some distance. a cool breeze was blowing, and I swung for almost half an hour! It was SUCH a wonderful feeling! You feel weightless on a swing and I love that feeling.
About 3 days back, in the evening, A was struggling to finish her dinner and we decided to play a memory game with her just to distract her. I never thought that I; a 21-year old would enjoy a game meant for 4 year olds. But we (3 adults and A) had SO much fun! We played another round of it even after A was finished with her dinner.
I don't know how or at what point of time I grew out of all this. I've stayed away from it for such a long time that I was convinced that I was too old for any kiddie stuff. I was wrong! I still enjoy playing games and playing on the swing! (Not to the same extent as A of course!) Staying with A has brought out the kid in me again!
Do you enjoy playing games once in a while? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
Bye! :D