Adventures in Wonderland

(Alice's) Adventures in Wonderland

I'd only read this book before as a child, and a much much abridged version. Reading it now, in the context of this course was enriching. I found the book full of metaphors about, well, everything! I would describe the style of writing as something between confusing, but leaning towards intriguing.

I saw the character of Alice grow during the course of the book; wiser and smarter. Alice starts off as being the stereotypical believer, and it was thought provoking to see her react with intrigue rather than shock when so many unusual things were happening all around her. The whole baggatelle with her height and the key were representative of the way we sometimes try to get things in order but fail. We cry, there's a metaphorical pool of tears, and then friends and people around us help us get by.

The dodo holding the stick was an intriguing paradox; I thought of the dodo as a stupid bird, but the illustration of it holding a stick seemed to present it as wiser. At the same time, it could be a reference to how smart people around us are sometimes considered stupid, or vice versa, I'm not sure.The fact that she knew what a hookah was is also interesting, maybe about how we sometimes conjure information out of our subconcious to make sense of things. Father Williamson's tale was one about taking lessons from everything, which although not elaborated upon, is what Alice does throughout.The instance with the Cheshire cat is all about fear and respect of the unknown.

The number 3 came up as expected; 3 sisters at the bottom of the well and the 3 gardners (although I expected the numbers of the 3 gardners to make some obvious sense).

Lastly, the bit about uglification and the suppression of applause were very very smart. An enriching experience indeed!

headscarves on the field

no, that's not some sort of rhetoric, I mean quite literally.. headscarves on the field.

http://www.change.org/petitions/allow-girls-women-to-play-football-wearing-headscarfs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert

whoever came up with that idea? and why should muslim women get to flaunt their religion when nobody else is really allowed to either. everything isn't designed as a conspiracy against the muslims y'know... it's just a matter of principle, no faith on the field... wait..

...

i just realised what i just said. no faith on the field? faith... faith is all there is on a field of sport. or anything in life that matters. faith is what topples monarchies and wins football matches. faith is why millions die and millions are saved. sigh...

if you feel bad for the girls who feel they can't play because of a petty ban, then do sign the petition.

:/ huuuh??!

I've realised recently that most of my posts that are not about football are the kind of posts other fellow (chauvinist) bloggers and I like to scoff at; very personal, and senti... maybe. it just occurred to me that this is the only fully formed idea in my head right now, but since I've started writing, I might as well ramble on for a bit.

Have i talked about the paradox of the kind of jobs compared to the kind of life one might want for themselves? I don't think I have. Well its like this, for the sake of making this post more tangible to my general audience, I'll localise my references and analogies to Pakistan. So, in Pakistan, all men work all their lives tirelessly. We're a lazy people, but that's only when you compare us to the rest of the world. We work to get a good job, a good job pays well, more money means you can put a price tag on yourself, good price tag means you don't have to care about the person you are, and also, a good price tag means a good wife, good wife takes your bullshit, forever, and gives you a lot of babies (quite possibly because your mother wants to be a grandmother). The fact that I can sum up the average Pakistani households' story while I'm only just rambling is sad in itself.

So, the paradox, rather, the dilemma is that what if you don't agree with some (or most) of the things mentioned above? What if blasphemous thoughts like liking what you do and caring if your wife actually has a personality (which, you probably wont be able to "control") keep popping into your head? What if you're okay with not having as much money as you could have doing a job you don't really like, but doing something you actually like doing? I realise that last one was a cliche, and a very used one at that, but those are real questions! The thing is that most people don't try to be overtly bold or ambitious because they feel like they'll miss out on something, and the fact of the matter is that they will.

Its a different life that way, and what one has to realise is that, excluding exceptions, no one gets to have the best of both worlds (cliche again, sorry). Its just like religion, you cannot be all like "..so, fine, I don't pray five times a day, but I'm still as good a muslim as anybody else!..." and expect that to be true, you could be a good person, but not a good Muslim unless you do all those little Muslim things you're supposed to do. Its as simple as that. I was talking to this guy and he was all like- is this alright? is this alright that someone just comes along and tells you whats right and wrong, and you just believe it, and do whatever is considered right? is it alright being a conformist?- and I was like- yea i guess, if you believe in it enough, anything is fine, atleast for your mental health and self preservation if you're completely convinced about it.

It all comes down to staying happy. The pursuit of happiness. I guess its about convincing yourself of something completely, because the longer one is conflicted about what they want, or what they believe in, the longer they're prone to be a victim of chronic unhappiness ('avazaari' explains the sentiment a little better), and nobody likes a sad-sack y'know!

let me wallow!!

have you ever had an epiphany? a revelation so great that you feel its surreal, ephemeral even? me neither. what i do come across are blunt bits of 'in yo fayce!' truth. some things i can live with, some not so much.

lately something happened after which i wanted to really get into the zone (of my sadness). i wanted to shut people out, be passive aggressive, seclude myself, take lonesome walks in the cold, smoke up, the works... but something really really different happened this time; i rode my cycle and everything seemed to be right (read: this friend of mine refused to let me drown myself in sorrow. she called and texted, and came by and made me feel like it's always alright. atleast not as bad as we might want to think it is. and especially that nothing is as bad as it seems in the present. if only i had wallowed in sadness completely for a couple of days i might actually had been depressed. and now she's gone made me feel kinda stupid for almost feeling sorry for myself, given it doesnt take a lot to get me there).

if only all problems in life could be solved by a bit of cycling!

growing up

there's a reason why i never like movies like Wake Up Sid: they're too real for me. most people watch a movie like that and go 'meh...' and i'm like 'wtf! gtfomofo!' because i like to think my life is something unique until some asshole comes along and makes a movie about some of it. is that the height of individuality one can possibly achieve? to be one-upped by a bloody bollywood movie?

do you know i still don't have a clue about what to do in life. i thought i was unique in that thought.. but no, turns out there are millions just as lost as myself, and i'm just one of that million.. this is not where i want to be, and i've got no one to tell me which way is up.. people say its maybe a good thing to let one "discover" things on their own, which is a bag of shit on fire really.. because sometimes, someone does need you to tell them what to do and take some blame for any shit that hits the fan along the way..

i need to grow up, but growing up means having to realise that the afore-written paragraph is crap, and one really does need to make the right decisions and own up to them to grow... as a person...