Like all little girls, I grew up watching Disney movies where the pretty girl meets a handsome prince and they live happily ever after, and like any other innocent little girl, I believed these things really happened. Yesterday, a prince married a pretty girl in the hopes of living happily ever after and over two billion people watched them do this. (Yes, I too watched the highlights, and cried.)Why? Why is a love story so much more interesting when a prince is involved? Is it all Disney's fault?
I always thought that people fell in love and spent the rest of their lives together and nothing ever came between them; life has taught me otherwise. Different things like bodies of water and fear of commitment seem to plague relationships. How come Disney never mentioned these? They just stopped at the pretty dresses and handsome princes. I demand that I get what I was promised: happily ever after. A handsome prince wouldn't hurt either, only because unlimited funds I don't need to earn sounds really wonderful given my current life involves endless hours spent either at work or doing homework and the mountain of student loan debt.
This post is just a rant. My thoughts are way too scattered right now for me to be coherent, but I felt like writing just to express them.
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Dumbledore's Army!
I feel like writing about something that is extremely close to my heart: The Harry Potter series. My friend sent me a recommendation for the Harry Potter Spells Application for the iphone/itouch and I in turn told another friend about it who poked some good-humored fun at the expense of my love of the series. Yes, they are well written books that are hard to put down, but that isn't the main reason they are so important to me. To fully explain that, I will need to take a trip down memory lane.
As with all stories worth telling, this one begins with a love story. I was 13 when I first met the boy who would become my first boyfriend. We were both in Calcutta, it was my first day of school and I was told to sit with him in art class. His first words to me were, "So you're the new girl?" I believe I responded with, "Yes. You sound very British." We started talking and found out about each others' pasts and interests. We both found each other attractive, but didn't think too much about it. I was new at school and I was homesick and boys were the last thing on my mind. Eventually, we got closer and a little over a year later we confessed our feelings for each other and started "dating," or as much dating as a 15 year old can do. He was my first kiss, first person who said he loved me, first person I loved. And then the fairy tale ended. We dated for nine months and then he broke up with me. I was absolutely heartbroken, never felt that kind of gut-wrenching pain before and sincerely hoped I would never feel it again.
I came to NY a few days after we broke up and I shared what had happened with my friends. I was extremely sad all the time and looking for anything to distract myself. It was at this point that a friend, M, wiser than her years gave me the first book to read. Not only was my ex the last thing on my mind, but I found the magical world a place where I could hide and not face the pain my real world was full of. It was like I took literary heroin, I simply could not stop reading. There were only four books at the time and I think it only took me one week to read all of them, and then I reread them all to pick up as many details as possible. To this day, I'm amazed at how many new details, whether a meaningful look or just a small hidden clue, I find when I reread the books for the 100th time.
A word about my friend M, I say she is wise beyond her years because she is actually 3.5 years younger than me, and yet she and I find ourselves having extremely mature conversations. Add her older sister to the mix, and we're just laughing for three hours straight without knowing what exactly is so funny. I've known M since she was four years old and she is currently studying architecture at one of the best art colleges in the country. She is the most creative person I know and is a very gifted artist. I'm glad that I have been around to watch her grow into such a strong, confident, intelligent and beautiful human being. (Like I said, I'm surrounded by amazing women!)
Back to the work of another woman, Jo Rowling, Harry and his world cast a spell on me that I haven't been able to fight off even after eight years, and honestly, I don't want to. I'm a proud Potterholic. Just like Hagrid came to pick up Harry and bring him out of his cupboard under the stairs, Harry and his friends brought my out of the proverbial cupboard that I was forcing myself into because I was upset over a break up. E.M. Forster says, "It is so easy for an Englishman to sneer at the chance collisions of human beings...Is it so easy to talk of 'passing emotion,' and forget hot vivid the emotion were ere it passed." I'm not English (my ex is though) and I do not take human emotions for granted. In fact, I wear my heart on a sleeve. (Really bad thing to do, but I am what I am and someday, it will be appreciated) However, when I look back at my 15-year-old self with the maturity of a 23-year-old, I think, "Pratima, what was wrong with you? Life goes on!" Clearly, it did. However, at the time, the only ointment I could apply on my broken heart was the magical words of Ms. Rowling.
Eventually, the rest of the books were published. I even stood in line for 9 hours (with M) to attend the midnight book release of the 7th book. Harry's world became darker as the series progressed, and I found myself wondering what I would do if I were in some of the positions Harry was in. I found myself asking, "What would Dumbledore do?" in certain situations. Perhaps this is why people think I'm insane. But really, the whole story is about the fight between good and evil, is it really that bad if I use it as my moral compass? Dumbledore had some very wise words! I find myself striving to be a true Gryffindor these days, head up and back straight, facing down that which bothers me.
I gave my most recent boyfriend (it's a very short list), my most recent ex as of this summer, the books and he was the only person I know who managed to put down one of the books in the middle and resume reading a significant amount of time later. He also broke my 5th book in half (It was slightly damaged when I gave it to him) and never bothered to replace it. The really ironic thing is, the last movie he and I saw together was the 6th Harry Potter movie. He probably isn't reading this, but if he is, he owes me a new first edition Order of the Phoenix.
My first ex, the reason why I started reading these books, and I have actually become good friends over the years. We speak regularly despite the distance. (A rather large body of water: the Atlantic Ocean) He will never realize what a favor he did to me by ending our "relationship." He made me find something that I will truly love for the rest of my life, because when you REALLY love something, that feeling lasts forever. Dumbledore would be very proud of having such a hopeless romantic as a follower.
Thank you, Ms. Rowling, for sharing this world you created. I believe in magic. If that makes me crazy, then lock me up. I think it's nothing short of magic that creates bonds between friends and lovers. I think it's magic that the elements suddenly started reacting and created this world we live in, it's magic that sometimes inspires us to take that extra step that makes all the difference. And I don't care what I learned throughout engineering school, planes fly with magic!
As with all stories worth telling, this one begins with a love story. I was 13 when I first met the boy who would become my first boyfriend. We were both in Calcutta, it was my first day of school and I was told to sit with him in art class. His first words to me were, "So you're the new girl?" I believe I responded with, "Yes. You sound very British." We started talking and found out about each others' pasts and interests. We both found each other attractive, but didn't think too much about it. I was new at school and I was homesick and boys were the last thing on my mind. Eventually, we got closer and a little over a year later we confessed our feelings for each other and started "dating," or as much dating as a 15 year old can do. He was my first kiss, first person who said he loved me, first person I loved. And then the fairy tale ended. We dated for nine months and then he broke up with me. I was absolutely heartbroken, never felt that kind of gut-wrenching pain before and sincerely hoped I would never feel it again.
I came to NY a few days after we broke up and I shared what had happened with my friends. I was extremely sad all the time and looking for anything to distract myself. It was at this point that a friend, M, wiser than her years gave me the first book to read. Not only was my ex the last thing on my mind, but I found the magical world a place where I could hide and not face the pain my real world was full of. It was like I took literary heroin, I simply could not stop reading. There were only four books at the time and I think it only took me one week to read all of them, and then I reread them all to pick up as many details as possible. To this day, I'm amazed at how many new details, whether a meaningful look or just a small hidden clue, I find when I reread the books for the 100th time.
A word about my friend M, I say she is wise beyond her years because she is actually 3.5 years younger than me, and yet she and I find ourselves having extremely mature conversations. Add her older sister to the mix, and we're just laughing for three hours straight without knowing what exactly is so funny. I've known M since she was four years old and she is currently studying architecture at one of the best art colleges in the country. She is the most creative person I know and is a very gifted artist. I'm glad that I have been around to watch her grow into such a strong, confident, intelligent and beautiful human being. (Like I said, I'm surrounded by amazing women!)
Back to the work of another woman, Jo Rowling, Harry and his world cast a spell on me that I haven't been able to fight off even after eight years, and honestly, I don't want to. I'm a proud Potterholic. Just like Hagrid came to pick up Harry and bring him out of his cupboard under the stairs, Harry and his friends brought my out of the proverbial cupboard that I was forcing myself into because I was upset over a break up. E.M. Forster says, "It is so easy for an Englishman to sneer at the chance collisions of human beings...Is it so easy to talk of 'passing emotion,' and forget hot vivid the emotion were ere it passed." I'm not English (my ex is though) and I do not take human emotions for granted. In fact, I wear my heart on a sleeve. (Really bad thing to do, but I am what I am and someday, it will be appreciated) However, when I look back at my 15-year-old self with the maturity of a 23-year-old, I think, "Pratima, what was wrong with you? Life goes on!" Clearly, it did. However, at the time, the only ointment I could apply on my broken heart was the magical words of Ms. Rowling.
Eventually, the rest of the books were published. I even stood in line for 9 hours (with M) to attend the midnight book release of the 7th book. Harry's world became darker as the series progressed, and I found myself wondering what I would do if I were in some of the positions Harry was in. I found myself asking, "What would Dumbledore do?" in certain situations. Perhaps this is why people think I'm insane. But really, the whole story is about the fight between good and evil, is it really that bad if I use it as my moral compass? Dumbledore had some very wise words! I find myself striving to be a true Gryffindor these days, head up and back straight, facing down that which bothers me.
I gave my most recent boyfriend (it's a very short list), my most recent ex as of this summer, the books and he was the only person I know who managed to put down one of the books in the middle and resume reading a significant amount of time later. He also broke my 5th book in half (It was slightly damaged when I gave it to him) and never bothered to replace it. The really ironic thing is, the last movie he and I saw together was the 6th Harry Potter movie. He probably isn't reading this, but if he is, he owes me a new first edition Order of the Phoenix.
My first ex, the reason why I started reading these books, and I have actually become good friends over the years. We speak regularly despite the distance. (A rather large body of water: the Atlantic Ocean) He will never realize what a favor he did to me by ending our "relationship." He made me find something that I will truly love for the rest of my life, because when you REALLY love something, that feeling lasts forever. Dumbledore would be very proud of having such a hopeless romantic as a follower.
Thank you, Ms. Rowling, for sharing this world you created. I believe in magic. If that makes me crazy, then lock me up. I think it's nothing short of magic that creates bonds between friends and lovers. I think it's magic that the elements suddenly started reacting and created this world we live in, it's magic that sometimes inspires us to take that extra step that makes all the difference. And I don't care what I learned throughout engineering school, planes fly with magic!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Love actually...
"I love you." There. I said it. Oh my God, what a miracle, the world didn't just fall apart! A friend of mine called me earlier today telling me how she was inspired by the movie "Love actually" (I actually suggested she watch it so perhaps her misery is partially my fault)to let loose of all inhibitions and tell the man she loves (who happens to be someone she's dated for a long time but has been having problems with lately) about her undying, unconditional love for him. In return, she was psychoanalyzed by a thoroughly distraught man.
My friend is an intelligent, beautiful, humorous, strong, worldly woman who's love I would be honored to receive, so I am basically writing this as a message to my lovely friend, referred to as Feathers. She has been feeling down and insecure so I just want to say: Feathers, you are the only person who makes me feel like acting like a lunatic is appropriate behavior, and I love you for it. If I could write poetry, I would do it for you. In fact, I would write sonnets in perfect iambic pentameter. Shakespeare would be ashamed. However, the most I can do is blog about you.
Feathers is an amazing person that any man would be lucky to have in his life. In fact, most women I know are. Then why do men keep running away once they hear that these amazing women love them? Isn't that a compliment? It's not just Feathers; the last time I told someone I loved him, I heard crickets. I'm telling you that I care about you, that I want to share your troubles and make you happy, not that I want your kidney and half your liver!! Dumbledore would be very disappointed.
So to avoid negativity (I promised Mr. Lennon that I would be positive in the letter I left him), I'm going to focus my energy on sending some love into the universe, because I think that's what the world really needs. Some wise men once said, "All we need is love." Maybe with a little bit more love, people will stop fighting wars and killing each other over things that don't matter (Does it REALLY matter how many or which higher power I worship?)and focus on the things that do. Perhaps if the gears of pharmaceutical companies were greased with less greed and more love, people would be cured of diseases. Perhaps if we discovered ways to live a more sustainable life, we would not have to kill or invade other countries for oil. We make neutron bombs that kill human beings but don't destroy infrastructure. Is brick and mortar worth more than human lives? Ironic, isn't it? Where is civilization headed?
Before I head to bed tonight, I am going to look out my window and tell the world that I love it and that I'm am happy to be living in it. Maybe that will help solve some problems by a fraction. Maybe there are other people who are doing the same and our fractions will add up. I'm going to end this post saying to all my friends that I love them and one day, we all will find people who have the courage to love us, and we are doing nothing wrong by telling someone we love them; we're injecting some love into the world. Feathers, I will tell you that I love you every day. To someone else, if you're reading this, you know who you are, I would do handstands in a bikini in the snow just to see you smile. Seeing you makes the sun seem to shine a little brighter. I love you.
And I love you too world! Now get better already!
My friend is an intelligent, beautiful, humorous, strong, worldly woman who's love I would be honored to receive, so I am basically writing this as a message to my lovely friend, referred to as Feathers. She has been feeling down and insecure so I just want to say: Feathers, you are the only person who makes me feel like acting like a lunatic is appropriate behavior, and I love you for it. If I could write poetry, I would do it for you. In fact, I would write sonnets in perfect iambic pentameter. Shakespeare would be ashamed. However, the most I can do is blog about you.
Feathers is an amazing person that any man would be lucky to have in his life. In fact, most women I know are. Then why do men keep running away once they hear that these amazing women love them? Isn't that a compliment? It's not just Feathers; the last time I told someone I loved him, I heard crickets. I'm telling you that I care about you, that I want to share your troubles and make you happy, not that I want your kidney and half your liver!! Dumbledore would be very disappointed.
So to avoid negativity (I promised Mr. Lennon that I would be positive in the letter I left him), I'm going to focus my energy on sending some love into the universe, because I think that's what the world really needs. Some wise men once said, "All we need is love." Maybe with a little bit more love, people will stop fighting wars and killing each other over things that don't matter (Does it REALLY matter how many or which higher power I worship?)and focus on the things that do. Perhaps if the gears of pharmaceutical companies were greased with less greed and more love, people would be cured of diseases. Perhaps if we discovered ways to live a more sustainable life, we would not have to kill or invade other countries for oil. We make neutron bombs that kill human beings but don't destroy infrastructure. Is brick and mortar worth more than human lives? Ironic, isn't it? Where is civilization headed?
Before I head to bed tonight, I am going to look out my window and tell the world that I love it and that I'm am happy to be living in it. Maybe that will help solve some problems by a fraction. Maybe there are other people who are doing the same and our fractions will add up. I'm going to end this post saying to all my friends that I love them and one day, we all will find people who have the courage to love us, and we are doing nothing wrong by telling someone we love them; we're injecting some love into the world. Feathers, I will tell you that I love you every day. To someone else, if you're reading this, you know who you are, I would do handstands in a bikini in the snow just to see you smile. Seeing you makes the sun seem to shine a little brighter. I love you.
And I love you too world! Now get better already!
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