What does New Zealand look like?

Map source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/australasia/new_zealand/new_zealand.htm

What does New Zealand look like? What does any place look like? There is no answer to that question. Even if I showed you a photograph of what I saw it wouldnt capture what I felt. And what I saw changed. My memories of it will change. Every time I narrate it, to every different individual I speak, it will change. All reality is constructed. I construct my reality and it is constructed for me.

Before I left, the image of New Zealand I had in my mind was one of surreal beauty, of peace, of tranquility, of nature untouched. I looked in vain, everywhere, for picutres to match what I had painted in my mind. I wasnt surprised though.

But what does New Zealand look like to me now? Violent. Beautiful but violent. The ruthlessness, the icy chill, the bloody beauty of the land took me aback. It left me disturbed. What hit me hardest was the power of history to shape geography.

New Zealand was an experience that was vile. I hated myself. I never felt at peace. I need to go back. This time, with no pressure from the 'higher-ups' to feel happy.

I hereby declare it the season of Summer

When I walked down after my post-workout shower in white shorts and a black spaghetti strap tee, it was official. "Ah, so you have declared it summer, have you?" my mother enquired.
Yes. I hereby declare it the season of Summer. The times of the tantalizing heat, inviting me to place a barefoot on the parched, baked, earth - red, terracotta, dried blood. Of beautiful memories - a red balcony, warm winds, books, afternoons, blue skies, purple jacaranda, dreams, hopes, aspirations, new pursuits, vain attempts to enrich the soul. The summer was my sanctuary.
(My rendez-vous with Winky, yesterday was just the tonic to restore my faith in frienships and the strength of the heart. Hope you find all the happiness in the world Winky! I hope that this lasts forever!)

India Wins - The Sociology of (Cricket)

Cricket, Indian cricket and cricket in India, has consumed much public space but the lack of language and space for anything but the popular discourse is striking. It may strike one as curious as to why I speak of 'Indian Cricket' as different from 'Cricket in India'. This is merely an attempt to create the distinction between a brand of cricket that has been shaped by its life in India, a result of certain social and economic topographies that make it unique. The intention is not the creation of a hierarchy but simply to recognize and give voice to differences... whether it is the voice of the sub altern is to be explored. Cricket in India is a sanitized phrase, a colonial hang over that views the game as a transplant (nay, not transplant, even that sort grows its own features). That cricket is a chauvinistic creature one need not go to great lengths to prove. But that I shall explore at length elsewhere (It is a pet project I might add). A passing thought after the series win is what I want to discuss now.
India sweeps the One Day Series against Pakistan 4-1. The air is supposedly euphoric... electric... damp squib? Is the champagne that Dravid and his boys that popped low on fizz? I would say yes. Tomes have been written and a great deal of hot air (Kyoto Protocol violation?) produced with regard to how much the game is being 'over played' or 'commercialization'. Cricket and the culture industry! (Theodor, darling?). The problematique is evident. Does cricket, like most other acitivites which can be appropriated so easily by the capitalist, cease to be leisure? Interesting query for the sociologist one would think, but the conclusion is foregone. Cricket as leisure is relative, to which end of the spectrum one views it from. The extent of the professionalization of the game results in the manner in which we view results of (the recent win?) - like the quarterly result of an indigenous software giant. The fire crackers, annoying fans on screeching two wheelers, the boxes of sweets seem to have disappeared (Pray, this is an observation, not a lamentation). The changes in the game have changed the way in which we view cricket. A win or loss is no longer a matter of life and death. Playing Pakistan is no longer war. The discussion of cricket is in the parlance of corporate life - management changes, leadership quality, optimum utilization of resources (Thank you, Imran Khan!) et al. So does this aurgur well for the Lalit Modis of Indian Cricket? Let me answer the question by saying that all life exists at the edge of chaos. It is the fervour, the passion that sells cricket and if that dies the money dries up. So the task at hand for BCCI is to keep that fire alive, stoking it with the skill of a courtesan.

On Unemployment!

I shocked yet another poor bloke today. The fact that I am unemployed seems to disturb the delicate balance of corporate trolls, ex-boyfriends, current friends, men in lust et al. This chappie turned up at my doorstep claiming to be my 'Relationship Manager' (I had no clue that those even existed. I almost gave him bear hug, screeching "Where were you all these years?", when it struck me that he wasnt one of Cupid's employees). Trying to sell me a 'Golf Credit Card' (yes golf) was he. He spent a good half an hour trying to figure out how any self-respecting, young woman can not be employed. Then he struck gold, or so he thought, "You must be married!".