Unless

Unless you've felt pain,

How will you know

The value of anything that gives pleasure?

Unless you've hated somebody,

How will you ever know

The actual feeling of unconditionally loving someone?

Unless you've been rejected,

How will you know

The prize of acceptance?

Unless you feel guilty yourself,

How will you know

The value of someone else's apology?

Unless you've had the world point fingers

At you, leaving you in doubt with yourself,

How will you know the power of trusting yourself?

Unless you've had tears on your cheeks,

How will you know

How good they feel when you smile?

Unless you've been unjustly called names,

How wouldn't you think

Twice before calling another?

Unless your pride was hurt,

How else would you have realized

That you should prove to the world,

What you are, and what you can be?

Unless you've hurt someone,

How will you know how truly happy

You feel when you lighten up their face?

Unless you've let someone down,

How will you learn that expectations are

Merely for you to strive harder, and

Reach for the unlimited streams of your potential

And not to burden you?

Don't spurn the stones on your path,

The ones which really just push you forward;

Because by the end, they'd have followed you around,

And added up to make a castle around you!

Starring in a Horror Movie leaves Kids Scarred

A common trend among teenager, and adults alike is to watch horror flicks and see who's got the "most guts"! The truth however, is those starring in the film are the bravest as they have to physically face the situations in the movie that leave the audience gripping their chairs in anticipation of the next scene, emotions balancing between scared and curious.

But, if the cast may be slightly weak hearted, they could actually associate the scene and the sets and basically scare the hell out of themselves. This is rarely the case with adults, but what about children?

Most horror movies and psychological thrillers have children set as either those who are haunted or those who haunt. This is a really convenient set up for the director and producer- Children can easily act scared, or really be scared, and their realistic expressions captured on the camera exaggerate the power of the opposing 'evil force'.

Not to mention, in some stories, the fact that it's the helpless children who are being targeted by the 'evil force' make the story line more cold-hearted, implying the power of the 'evil' to be indiscrete in selecting victims.

And in other scripts, it's the children, generally believed to be 'innocent' who are either 'possessed' or somehow develop inherent evil, and go on a unemotional heartless spree.

But the children who act in these scenes- are they mature enough to decide that these scenes they are filming are not true? For the general population of kids, horror films usually cause psychological effects like anxiety, fears, obsession and nightmares. Most of them tend to avoid similiar situations in their own lives, as they associate the stimulus of fear with that situation. For example, if a child watches a scene depicting, say a 'monster' coming out of a pit in a forest, the child will generally associate any pit in a forest, with a 'monster'. So, it is perfectly understandable, that the child will prefer to avoid pits in forests.

But for the children who act in these films, they have to face the scene physically, i.e. be present in the scene along with the other character that they have to run away from. So, they do not really have avoidance as an option. They cannot run away from the scene as it is part of their job contract. Some of them face harsher psychological problems, and in severe cases, it gets harder to get back to living a normal phobia-free life.

All the money earned from acting in such a movie goes to the child's parents, and is given to the child only when he/she has officially attained adulthood. Doesn't this make parents responsible for the side-effects of starring in such flicks? What kind of a parent would knowingly hurt their child, or make them endure pointless hardships?

And yet, there is a large amount of enthusiasm in parents, especially in our country, to have their children acting, inconsiderate of the genre of the movie.

What can be done to avoid scarring these children? Prohibition of the casting of children in horror movies is of course, a good prospect, but maybe too drastic a change for the film industry. If perhaps the scenes were to be designed taking the age and sensitivity of the child into consideration, it might prevent any future phobias. And for the flicks where children are centered as main characters, maybe advanced 3D animation techniques could be useful?

This is now a common trend in some countries, but not in India. But isn't it about time?

The Internet Bride

Hours spent rechecking for a message

staring at the webpage.

'No new mail' it says

but she clicks on 'Inbox' anyways.

What if they sent it, but she didn't get it?

What if she didn't sent it right?

What if it was lost on the net, or might

have been dismissed as 'junk'?

What if they are trying to reach

Her, as she was trying for them?

Should she resend it? Or will they

think of her as impatient?

Agitated, she bites her lip

Thinking of what to do

Was she refused?

She encloses herself with fears.

Her thoughts hurt her.

But quickly she settles herself to get

an apology from them who she believed

shattered her self esteem

Now her eyes narrowed

as she tried to create an outline-

how to confront them and

show that she was worthwhile

She checked for more details

about them, she needed these

To show them what they really

needed, and how she was it!

As she explored, she remembered

she had another e-mail account-

her first, but now very rarely used...

And lo! There it was-

"1 new message"!

It's time I said Goodbye

Thank you for being there.
You were with me, when I was alone.
And I felt hurt; when a single ray
or sunshine or hope never shone.

You made me feel alive,
when I felt like I was dead.
When I couldn't get over anything
that happened before, or was said.

You were there, and never left.
You saw me bring myself down
till I was low, almost beyond repair,
and it's true, i tried so hard to smile.

Nobody knew I was afraid.
or hurt, or sad. And every night,
before on a soft pillow, my distressed head laid,
I'd have you, and only you for company.

You never left me. Oh no.
You were the only one in my heart,
stopping me from any love i could show
on any other being.

But now it's time we set ourselves apart
and you leave your chamber in my heart,
that I let you leave scars in, and poison.
I won't forget you, sadly, even if i wanted to.

But oh! It's time I left the past, and you with it.
It's time that I don't welcome you
with open arms when you knock on my door.
It's time I lived without you.

I thank you for being there, but the deal is done
and you've left me with wounds undone.
Please don't remind me, just let it be.
Hopefully, a future devoid of you, I'll see.

A while ago, I restarted my life again,
And made new choices and did new things.
But you came as flashes, maybe you're
feeling rejected. I'm sorry i can't be by your side
the way you were by mine,
But I guess now you'll have felt what i did,
And you will experience yourself as you are- PAIN.

What Junior Colleges Teach Students

1. HOW TO LIE

- The perfect lie can be obtained only if the teachers and the students are in perfect synchrony, and thus can tell the Student Right Activists that they are being taught incomplete Intermediate first year (Grade 11) portion, although the blackboard clearly has a diagram of the anatomy of a rabbit- taught only in the second year of Intermediate(Grade 12).

2. HOW TO BE HAPPY IN NOT-SO-HAPPY CIRCUMSTANCES

- When a student who performs well in tests falls ill, the rest of the class must rejoice and think of the lack of competition they shall face in the tests that that particular student is not writing.

3. HOW TO KILL YOUR CREATIVITY WHILE WRITING ANSWERS

- All answers must be exactly the same. Any deviation from the answer printed in the prescribed book published by the institute itself, shall lead to deduction of marks, even if there is no apparent or logical reason for the loss in marks.

This ensures that all students think in the same level and do not overly use their mouldy minds!

4. HOW TO DEPRESS THE ENTHUSIASTIC SOUL

- All students who are enthusiastic to learn must face hours of monotonous lectures about how they "shall fail unless they work hard, and how failures plunge the hopes of their parents into a deep sea of sadness". This forcing them to lose all enthusiasm and develop a disinterest in their education, and eventually life itself.

5. FACTS ABOUT PARENTS WE DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE

- It is clearly taught to all students that even one failure can make their parents rethink their decision to bring up that child, and they shall eventually want to disown the failure. The colleges explain to the students that parents have tremendous expectations, and would not mind giving up the child if he/she does not show any brilliance or talents. Thus, parental love is not 'unconditional'.

6. HOW TO REACH FOR INNER BRILLIANCE

- Inner Brilliance can be discovered by one, and only one method- the "study till you drop" plan. All students are advised to spend at least 21 hours a day studying and thinking about their approaching exam. reorganizing daily schedules to obtain 21 'study-able' hours is explained in the following point.

7. HOW TO REORGANIZE YOUR TIME

Students are told that sleeping, eating, and even bathing are a "waste of time". Thus, these activities are to be avoided or organized such that they consume the least amount of time possible. Taking these activities into consideration, it has been found that a student is left with a 'minimum' of 21 hours what must be fully utilized to study.

8. HOW TO DISTANCE FRIENDS

- Students are told that any help -general or academic, rendered to a fellow classmate shall make the aider lose valuable time, and make the one who has been helped superior as he/she shall have tired the aider out, lessening their chances of proper future study. Thus, helping comrades is highly discouraged and looked down upon.

9. THE UNIMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

- It is a complete "waste of time" to develop one's hobbies or spend time on creative activities as the brain loses focus of the main goal, which of course is to get a 'Rank' and get the highest score possible. A Person's character can only be developed if he/she is properly utilizing available resources (which of course, are minimal) and spending endless hours learning the same things... again... and again... and again........

10. HOW TO 'CHANGE THE WORLD'

- The World can be changed only if students perform, obtain a 'Rank' and recruit more students to these colleges so that the college can earn more, and the student shall feel like he/she has changed a life (in a negative way, of course).... and in extension, changing the world!

"Let him be, he's only picking on you 'cause...."

The other day, I was talking to one of my friends, initially about general topics and slowly we began talking about relationships. "Everyone knows that if a boy likes a girl, he'll make fun of her" he remarked.

I was shocked! So it was true... The confusing line told to all little girls- "Let him be, he's only picking on you 'cause he likes you!". I couldn't believe it! My entire life till then, I ignored it- I thought it was a little joke, or maybe just a way to make girls display more 'submissive' behavior, to become 'ideal'...

Then I got thinking. While in the west, chivalry is looked up to and thought of as a way of showing respect, we still have parts in our country where a man is considered to be rather 'unmanly' if he helps his wife or say, volunteers to do house hold chores, which are still considered to be the 'women's jobs'.

And so, the social concepts arise where boys believe that they have to be tough, and should 'pick on' the girl to show his affection. The girls are raised to believe that it's all right, feeding on the so-called 'security' that if he teases her, he likes her, and maybe prefers her over other girls- a type of 'flattery'!

Well, what if he turns abusive? Who is to be blamed if the boy who was told his entire life to "make fun of her" begins to hurt her emotionally, mentally, and even physically after their relationship becomes 'more serious'? Is it right to say "but that's just a way of showing my love for you" when she questions his harassment?

According to the UN, over 70% of married Indian women face abuse and domestic violence, sometimes even on a daily basis, and only a tiny fraction have the courage to open up about it.

Numerous acts have been passed, and after decades, Indian women have been given the rights they so justly deserve. And yet, the men rarely change, and the women remain quiet, unable to pull together the nerve to say anything about it.

Is this fear in these women only because they were always told to be docile, and tolerant, as "he only means to say he loves you"? Because they believe that his abuse is some strange show of fondness, in a complex morph that they know they will never be able to decipher...

After all, "Let him be, he's only picking on you 'cause he likes you!".

But is it really a fair excuse to leave the situation be?

And is it fair that some men who really show tenderness are dismissed as "not masculine"?