Tag: people

The Itch I Can’t Get Rid Of

itch

For a while now, Gmail has been showing me advertisements in my Social, Promotions, and Updates tabs. And though I’ve been dismissing them at will, I can’t help but freak out when I see something so relevant to what I had been searching a while ago.

I know, Google reading my emails and following my browsing history isn’t a new concept. Google has always done that, and despite a lot of people’s outburst against it, it doesn’t seem like big G would stop anytime soon. On another note, part of my work involves writing ads for Google to show our customers when they search for something relevant. So I don’t even think I have the right to be outraged by the ads.

Still, I am.

I don’t like the fact that Google is messing with my search history. It’s messing with my head. I don’t browse for anything vile but I get cautious even when my boss stands behind me. And to think Google is just right there, inside my system, peeking at me, and pecking at every trail I leave is just a little too much to take.

Then there’s the “Tell us why you dismissed the ad” message. That’s got to be the most sarcastic message that Google can send its users. I mean, what do you expect, Google? I dismiss the ads because they’re masquerading as emails while obscuring my actual emails. Not to mention it’s rude to shove ads in the face of someone who’s logging in first thing in the morning.

As if these weren’t enough, there are people out there who don’t care about Google’s meddling. I met a woman who shrugged off the idea as if she couldn’t care less. She was happy, instead, that Google had found her the curling iron she had tried and failed to find online.

Emails, like letters, are personal — even if I’m just writing to a software support team. I don’t appreciate it when a G product lures me into relying on its technology. The world already depends too much on Google. From my search and routes to documents and email, if I log into one app, a single company can see through me like glass.

To put it in plain speak, no matter where I go, big G follows me, watching me like a hawk. Why does it feel like 1984 again

Clueless

I gawked at the short, muscly woman walking through the massive doors. She wore beige pants and a loose blue blouse, with tomboyish, straight black hair sitting snug on her head.

She avoided the artists, wandering alone breezing through people and portraits alike.

Soon she found a chair in a corner to people watch. She seemed incapable of appreciating art and I wondered why she stayed. Yet she lingered, unperturbed as the clock ticked closer to judgement. When it did, I stood, gulped and turned to the stage.

She was the judge; the renowned artist I had dreamt of meeting.

Need for Change

bench

“But everything would change the moment you say ‘I do,’” Becky pleaded with her sister. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Belinda turned away from the mirror she had been admiring, to face her sister. She was tired, tired of waiting for the dust to settle down, tired of waiting for the one person who’d show her happiness again. Because despite fantasising much, Belinda knew she’d never be happy while she clung to her past, wallowing alone in the hallow house that her teenage daughter had hung herself in.

Belinda needed out, and Richard had a shiny green card.

Another Day, Another Case

For some people, New Year’s Day wasn’t as flashy as they thought it would be. According to initial reports, a group of men molested a bunch of girls in Bangalore on the 31st of December. Like any women-related news, this one, too, became the most news-worthy piece on our media. Some even reported that there were scores of people on that street at the time including a large group of police personnel on duty. It’s not the first time that a New Year’s party had turned rogue. However, things happened and someone caught it on tape. While police authorities denied that they had any evidence of mass molestation, various theories have blown on and off since. I thought it was just Indians being drunk Indians, but I came across more creative conspiracy theories as well. Like this one:

bangalore-another-day-another-case

Ah, what a gift it is to have such imagination! Sure, media says that the man had confessed to the story and that no other women had reported any molestation complaints. And yet, I can’t believe how such a thing could be real. It sounds like something that would be lousy even in the most unreal of movies. Or perhaps the media spins tales to create a buzz and increase their ratings; that’s not unheard of either.

But here’s the worst thing: for all we know, the news piece could be real. Anywhere else it would be questionable, but with India’s current state of things, it could just be too real. Pepper sprays and SOS messages are our necessities now. Our society has fallen to such low standards that we accept that molesting the woman you love is the only way to get married. That’s what the accused says, so I’m guessing he believed that he could get away with it.

I had hoped that twelve years of schooling and four years of college would’ve left a decent mark on our youth. After all, we teach them to respect women, we talk about gender equality, and we even seek men to help empower women. And yet despite everything that goes on one side, another more vile side of our society is choosing molestation as the acceptable pathway to marriage. I wonder, though, would it make a happy marriage?

It’s atrocious and downright cheap, and it leaves a nasty taste in my tongue.