I had a multi-colored DP yesterday. So what?

I live in India. I had a multi-colored DP yesterday. So why do people think they have a right to question that or make statements about it?

It happened in America, yes. America is not my country, right. I don’t have any friends who are benefitted directly from this, correct. (maybe not, I don’t know.) The only thing that mattered to me was that there were countless number of people whose lives changed forever yesterday. It made me happy that somebody’s life got easier and that someone could finally be and do what they want to. It was a victory of ‘Freedom’. Changing my dp, showing my support was the only way I could express myself. No one was pushing anyone to put up multi-colored DPs, Facebook didn’t make it a default for the day, it was a personal choice just like it was your’s not to do so.

So, stop dissing and be happy for other people, even if they are strangers who you’ll never probably meet, even if they are oceans away and are citizens of another country – what happened to ‘Humanity, solidarity & kinship’ that I am pretty sure you talk about? It was nothing but a show of faith, of support and that of exhilaration that the society was moving forward, cutting all the binding strings away. Yesterday it was America, tomorrow it’ll be India. How else do you expect the world to be liberal? Agreed that America is not the only place where LGBT rights need to be upheld, but it’s definitely a huge step.

Even though I don’t know them personally, I was so happy for all the youtubers that have made my each day brighter by just being themselves, sharing their lives and dreams with the whole world, I have watched them struggle with issues of gay-pride and yesterday, I knew it meant a whole lot to a lot of them. I couldn’t reach each one personally, they have affected my life in a positive way and it was something that would make their lives a whole lot better and that was what was so wonderful about it all. It brought together people from different countries, just supporting a cause that people have fought for and will continue to do so.

Facts and arguments aside, can’t we just be happy because someone else is happy? That is simple right? 🙂 It is absolutely okay for people to be happy because other people are happy. The hashtags ‘#LoveWins’ and ‘#CelebratePride’ just made me smile a whole lot more yesterday because I knew that somewhere there was someone whose longterm dream of a perfect wedding would come true. Just like you & me & everyone else, they would have dreamt of tying the knot with the person they love but the law held them back all this while and now they can officially be ‘Mr&Mr’ or ‘Mrs&Mrs’! 🙂 Can you imagine how much that would mean to someone who fought their own personal battles, everyday, big or small, to make it happen? 🙂 They finally have the right to something that they shouldn’t have had to fight for in the first place.

When something tragic happens, don’t we show our solidarity? 9/11, Nepal earthquakes, Sandyhook school shooting, executions in NK and all the other times we stood up for the others, then why is it questionable today especially when it’s a positive thing? If you think this is not something that matters, then you probably have been looking at the world with a deceptive filter. So c’mon, be Indian! One of the first lessons we all learn is to see everyone as one, all of humanity! So be happy that something good is happening in the other corner of the world because tomorrow it’ll be our turn. This change just opened a lot of gates, it’s an inspiration for everyone else. Do you think there aren’t any people in India who wish this to happen here? There are probably one too many!

There has been this joke flying around that ‘People are celebrating the legalization of gay marriages in America when in India guys are still fighting to marry the girl of their choice.’ Seriously guys, don’t you see that your joke is just validating the dire necessity of such changes, may it be in any part of the world? Everything is ‘eventual’, every change in this world ‘flows’. These kind of changes give hope to millions of others, people who are socially struggling to be accepted.

It isn’t just about gay-rights, it’s about breaking social norms that are hindering any individual from living a life that they want to. It is about ‘social evolution’. It is about the world being a happier place for everyone, irrespective of who they choose to be. So it’s okay if people want to do a small little deed like change their DPs, because maybe that is the least that they can do. It’s just an expression of being glad and happy, and that is acceptable right? 🙂

Take it light. If you find our DPs annoying then don’t look at them, don’t like them. But please don’t turn everything into a joke, & no its not “cool”. Anything that means something to someone cannot be a joke, ever. Everyone will laugh off the light hearted jokes with you, but the distasteful, ignorant rants that you guys have been liking & reposting – Not cool. If you can’t be happy for someone, then at least don’t be mean and silly. Just let it be. 🙂

Window Seat – The Experience.

I personally am obsessed with having a window seat when I am travelling, be it in a bus or a train or a car. If there are no pestering grown ups around who would make me give it up out of “respect” and to showcase my “obedience” *rolls eyes*, I can handle the pestering little brats and shoo them away easily. There is just something about staring out of your window into nothingness that ups the ‘experience’ factor of the otherwise mundane and inevitable journey intended to just move you from place to place.

I am not saying that journeys aren’t fun otherwise! Of course journeys can be super fun with people you love, people you want to spend time with. But, I don’t think you can deny the fact that at least one of those times you wished you could have your space. The pace at which we are busy living it up, sometimes you just need to pause and breathe. There is nothing like the serene calm you experience when you are travelling in the night, cars zooming by, stars in the dark sky like a canopy – sheltering you from everything beyond.

I am specific about the night journeys because that is when you are most likely to be free from chit-chatting people, noisy vendors trying to sell you cheap food, loud big-bellied men trying to run jobs from miles away, old people not realizing that  just because they are deaf, it doesn’t mean that the entire world is too and all the screaming spoilt kids. And when you do chance upon these rare time-frames, it’s almost like the world decides to take the break with you. Everything slows down to your pace, or maybe it’s the other way around, you slow down to match the world. Who knows.

Music feels more amplified, you relate to every song on your playlist even if it has no relevance to your life whatsoever! Random songs bring back memories, bring back people. Some make you smile, some make you giggle, some make you quiet and some bring tears. Acting out the song with just your face, lip-syncing like it’s your own comes naturally and doesn’t feel weird or fake at all. Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran seem like your closest friends now and you totally imagine singing along with them in the farm, sitting on a checkered red and white picnic towel, smiling because you know they understand, even if no one else does.

The most common thought on such journeys – The One. You either think about the one who is already in your life, the one who has left or the one who you’re waiting for. And sometimes, the one might be ones! I am not really sure if I should call that fortunate or unfortunate. A whole lot of reminiscing and wishful-thinking happens. It gives you an emotional high, everything is magnified. I have made decisions on such highs, some good and some that i have regretted eventually.

I don’t really know if it’s the silence or just seeing things passing you by or just noticing how far far away everything in the sky is, but it gets you thinking – thinking about all the things that you’ve done, wishing you could undo a few, wishing you could do a few better and about all the things you wish to do in the future. Everything seems to make sense, your mind goes into overdrive. The wind rushing through your hair manages to muddle up your thoughts somehow, you jump between ideas like they are mere instances and before you know it you don’t even remember where you started. And just one of those times, you get to feel empty. I treasure these, where your mind is just clear and there is absolutely nothing that you want to think about.

If you give it enough time, it’s almost like for those few hours you are separated from reality – in an alternate universe where you feel understood. It’s just an illusion, but it’s a bloody satisfying one at that. You tend to get all philosophically dizzy and start analyzing life and all of it’s exploits, usually more dramatized versions of the same. It all depends on the amount of time that you spend on the road and what the road looks like.

If there is one thing that can one-up this experience, it’s a rainy journey. Not like a heavy noisy downpour, but the kind of rain that makes you all fuzzy from the inside and leaves you feeling as comfortable as snuggling into mum on a cold night, back in your own bed, under your own roof – in a place called ‘Home’. And if you understand what I mean, you know i am not exaggerating. But that is a story for a different time because it deserves an article of its own. So, for now, close your eyes and lean back and imagine what it would feel like – specially if the destination has something or someone very close to your heart. Or better yet, make it happen! Go take a break! Smiling already? I am. 🙂

That is why I call travelling an ‘Experience’. It is so much more than just movement, we have only talked about one part of it yet, and this part doesn’t even have anything to do with the destination or any other person but you. There is so much more and hence, I’ll keep on writing!