My problems are so trivial...

I just learned that my friend Suba Baskaran, a Welcome Week Rep for the residence I lived in as a don at McMaster two years ago, passed away yesterday. The facebook group in her memory says she'd been battling cancer for the past year, which makes me so sad because I didn't get the opportunity to encourage her through her battle or even say goodbye.

All day I've been complaining about the York strike making my life such a struggle and now I feel like such an idiot. Here I am, living this privileged life, healthy, happy and in general good spirits, but this poor girl's life had barely begun and now she's gone.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her family, what a tragedy it must be to have to say goodbye to a young woman with the hopes of a bright future. R.I.P. Scooby, I will always remember you with a smile, just like you always greeted everyone you crossed paths with. Much love.

On visiting mac...

Getting off the GO today and looking around campus, I really felt the panic of my age set in...I turned 23 a few days ago, and yet it didn't hit me (until I got to mac) seeing as how I'm surrounded by the vastness that is York.

Being back to my old home, boy do I miss Mac, and seeing all these 17 yr olds. run around doing exciting things (much like I did) made me incredibly envious. Mostly because I loved the adrenaline rush of a completely new environment, the expectation that the best is yet to come and the sheer joy of being around people my age all the damn time.

I hung out with my sis, which was nothing short of trippy. You see, my sister is 5 yrs. my junior so when I see her doin grown up things I get flash back of walking her to JK and it psychs me right the f%*@ out. In those few hours though, sharing that time with her, I was so proud of her and so excited for her. When I think that she is following in my footsteps it gives me strength and hope for the rest of my family that have yet to discover the wonders of higher education. That's the problem with family money and businesses folks, ya get too damn comfortable cuz you know you'll always be 'taken care of' so to speak...

So here's to education, one of the greatest privileges and blessings in my life.

How to say goodbye...

They say bad things happen in 3's, but up until recently I never gave it much thought. In less than 3 months, my family has had 3 deaths in the family, one of which was my beloved grandmother (Bibi Ji), who passed away just shy of 2 weeks before my cousin Daisy got married. On Thanksgiving Day we lost 2 family members in one day...around 9:30 am we lost my Thakur uncle Ji (my dad's sister's husband) and then around 6:30 pm, we heard news that my grandmother's sister's husband passed away as well.

Traveling from Brampton Civic to Trillium to pay last respects, it literally felt like I was having a real bad dream the whole day, so I just kept hoping I'd wake up from it.

Up until my Bibi Ji passed away, I'd never even attended a funeral, so needless to say I was pretty sheltered when it came to the whole grieving process. Contrary to popular opinion, I am very much of the feint of heart. I do not consider myself to be very strong, especially when it comes to seeing the people I love most in this world in pain.

What makes these last two deaths especially difficult for my immediate family is that the service was held in the same locations as my Bibi Ji's funeral. So it was like re-living the memories of our painful goodbyes with her. My 6 yr. old nephew said to me, "massi I'm gonna say a poem at papa's funeral, just like you did for Bibi." Its times like these that make you want to just curl up into a corner and cry because the incredible influx of sorrow is way too much to handle.

Losing someone you love is a painful thing, especially when you've lived with them your whole life, because imagining a world without them just plain and simple don't make sense. My Bibi was more of a mother to me than anything else, because my parents were always working late at the restaurant, she single-handedly raised myself, my 2 siblings and all her other 15 grandchildren-an astonishing feat. She taught me the meaning of humility, love and grace because she embodied it, she was a role-model, a caregiver, but more than anything she was my shakti (strength). When I'd spend nights with her in the hospital and think of losing her, I'd get panic attacks, but I made it through her funeral and sometimes I wonder how the heck I did it. Well, the answer that gives me the most comfort is knowing that she is still with me, her strength, her love, her beauty will always be apart of who I am because who am I kidding, she has shaped every fibre of my being.

May God bring shanti (peace) to those who have left us. We'll miss you and love you everyday, forever.

My Fellow Canadians, don't fail us...VOTE on October 14th!

Okay so here's my pitch to all of you on why I think its PIVOTAL to vote on October 14th.

Politics can be shitty sometimes; it can be petty and pushy and seem downright disgusting to those of us who do not care for the bicker and banter of character assassinations between politicians, the broken promises, the jargon, you name it, I've heard it. But, you can't really separate yourself from politics because "the everyday is political" and the "personal is political." That is, you are affected by political outcomes one way or another, so why not exercise your right to sway politicians to have things to your advantage? Or at least more to your advantage than just being apathetic. The way I look at it, if politicians got the memo that more and more 18-24 year olds gave a damn about politics-and the only way to show that is by hitting the polls-well then issues that matter to us (like the rising cost of tuition, more internships for new grads, more spaces in law/med and other post-grad schools) are more likely to be on their radar/platforms.

There is no excuse good enough for not voting (you don't have time-make time!; you don't know where to vote-ask your student union!; you don't like any political party-abstain or vote independent!; you don't understand politics-do the research, there's so many great blogs on the net), and YES your 'one vote' does matter. No matter how troubling the game of politics can seem, there's a very good side, err a great side, if you take the time to do the research and make decisions based on what priorities you think matter most to Canadians.

I'm not ignorant. I know the way we do politics is not anywhere near where it should be, but if we want to do ourselves justice in the future, then we need to seriously consider what's at stake if we don't give a damn? I'm all for enjoying the university experience, partying on the regular is wicked stress-relief...but our political process needs some tweakin and it aint a solo mission, students need an organized process for action.

What do we want?
How can we achieve it?
How many of us vote?
How can we get more students to care about politics?
Real questions.
Real consequences.
It's about time we give a damn folks.

*Note: Notice how I didnt pitch my party. I obviously have a bias, but that is not my message...democracy (like education) is a privilege, not a right.

Think about it.

My shameless plug for Equal Voice

So i've been a member of Equal Voice, which is a "multi-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to the still-bold idea that more women must be elected to every level of government in Canada," for many years as a student. I think that changing the face of politics in Canada requires the election of more women not least of which because we live in a world made by men, for men. The way we 'do' politics is not working, we hate the players (men and women) but perhaps it is the game that needs to be re-evaluated to ensure that it matches the culture, values and demographics of our nation. This is, in part, why I am so fascinated with the political process and the people who are-genuinely-dedicated to making it better for future generations. To say that we have a long way to go would be an understatement, but alas this is a starting point.

Note: While I like the feminist approach to this organization- For this campaign in particular, "Take our girls to vote," I would open up to all children because I am firm believer in youth empowerment.

The take our Girls to Vote campaign launched by Equal Voice calls out to any voter/politician to make a pledge to take a girl (I'd say child) to the polls with you on election day to kick-start their interest in the political process, as well as to combat voter apathy!

http://www.equalvoice.ca/pledge.cfm

the woah factor

its always eerie when you hear of friends, ex-lovers or people you know in general who are around your age and getting engaged, or left that, getting married!

its a common occurrence these days, i guess its expected since i turn 23 way too soon for life... but i'm kind of lucky in that i'm the baby of the crew... so its natural that my place shall come near the end (thankfully). I guess when i think about it, that chapter of my life seems far, far away-probably b/c there's no one i could remotely picture spending the rest of my life with-yet.

its a reality check in many ways, because i imagine many of us will hit that stage of our lives and its kind of all-consuming. a friend of mine just emailed me and told me he was engaged, which prompted this post, and i thought-woah. He's many years older than me, so it shouldn't be a surprise, but it very much is...so here's to the couple, i wish you the very best in life, love and happiness, be good to her A.

thats all i got for now...

DL

"Its a paradox we call reality, so keepin it real will make you a casualty of abnormal normality." Talib Kweli.

K3G...what do you have over me?

For those of you that know me...and well, for those of you that don't...I'm not much of a crier. I tend to bottle my feelings up inside until that time of the month when every girl hates being a girl-sorry guys, haha! So, true to form-whenever I need a good cry to let it out, I watch this old Bollywood (Indian version of Hollyood) movie called Khabi Kushi Kabi Gham (a.k.a. K3G).

I just finished watching it and started musing-hence the re-name of my blog-about why I always cry, without fail, when I watch this movie? I usually cry at a bunch of points throughout the movie b/c the characters inject a ridiculous about of pathos into their roles...but I cried long and hard during two parts in particular today. Once, when Kajol's father passes away and once when two brothers part their separate ways due to a disagreement in the family.

This past summer, I had similar experiences to these characters. I lost my best friend in the whole world, my grandmother, and my sister moved away for university-albeit, minus the disagreement...I just miss her. So I relate to the emotions these characters are feeling in the movie, especially the cultural significance of losing or parting with a loved one. Indian families tend to be incredibly family-oriented, that is, family values, pride, honour kind of trumps all other priorities in your life. I guess that only holds true if you're close to your family, as in my case.

I shared the movie with friends whom I thought would particularly enjoy it...so for those of you that are interested please visit the link below (there are English subs).

That's all for now...keep it real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR3udH_c62c&feature=related