The "Lists"

During college, my Facebook wall used to be filled with posts from parties, vacations etc. Soon after college, the Facebook feeds were mostly matrimony ones. And lately, it has been the Attack of the “Lists” and Candy Crush. I will talk about Candy Crush in my next blog post, but today, let me focus on the “Lists”.

Recently I have seen a surge in the number of “Lists” that Facebook users share on their profile. When I say, “Lists”, I refer to links that read something like - “14 Reasons Why Mumbai is The Most Amazing City in the World” or “13 Reasons Why Indians Can’t Live Without Maggi" or “15 Frustrating Things Skinny Girls Go Through In India”.

Most of the time, the link leads to “scoopwhoop.com” or ""wishpicker.com" and a few other websites. I confess that I have frequently clicked on the link to check out the “List”. However, like Candy Crush invitations, these “Links” are appearing way too often and it seems that now, they are just spam. I wonder how people get time or ideas to create a new list. I am not a keen reader of books, a habit that I am now trying to build, but with the advent of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, people are not sure, what else to share (or create).

However, while I acknowledge that going through these lists is interesting at first, I cannot overlook the fact that these lists are now popping up for pretty much every possible scenario. A few examples -

* 12 Signs Of A Girlfriend From Hell

* 13 Reasons Why Being A Tall Girl Is Not As Easy As You Think

* 11 Things We Go Through While Preparing For Entrance Exams

* 16 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Stray Dogs

* 16 Things You Experience At Your School Farewell

* 10 WTF Indian Ads That Redefine Badvertising

* 14 Signs That Show You Are A Royal Enfield Fanatic

*     ……..

*       ….

And these are names are just what I got off the homepage of scoopwhoop. Since these “Lists” have been created by users and not by the website scoopwhoop, they obviously are not the ones to blame. But unfortunately, I have got so bored of the lists, I have literally stopping clicking these links.

I fear that if people run out of ideas, there is a possibility that the following may be prospective 'Lists' -

* 10 Sign that your are a kleptomaniac
* 12 places where you would not mind taking a leak
* 17 reasons why you should not stick your nose in someone' business
* 13 reason why it is fun to fart in a crowded bus
* 18 different poses of Saddam Hussein
* 23 reasons why I should punch you in the face
* 19 steps to pick your nose and stick in someone's food (I know... disgusting)


A sincere request to those who create (or share) such lists, please take this in a sporting way, cause I would not want to be in someone's Hit List

Gender bender situation?

I normally hate reality television. I find it absurd and melodramatic just to gain those high ratings. However a friend of mine who seems to follow some of these shows told me about this program called Emotional Atyachar, where they focus on couples in a relationship and their fights. My friend specifically spoke about situations where relationships were going great and one partner wants to break away completely. The funny aspect that my friend told me here was that it is the women who usually break up the relationship than the men. I shared my opinion that most likely the guys must have been jerks who may have been harassing the girl and hence the girl may be forced to break up the relationship. I happen to be an old school kinda guy. If in a relationship, both the partners are treating each other well, there shouldn’t be much of a reason for them to split. Obviously I am assuming that there are no external factors such as social pressures.

But in this reality television, the main reason for breaking up the relationship is loss of interest. One partner (surprisingly mostly women) just lose interest. This breakup is nothing to do with one partner cheating or beating the other (tried to make it rhyme you see!!). Loss of interest or finding another better looking partner, doesn’t seem like a likely scenario. And that’s where my friend told me I was wrong. She told me that this happens in real life more frequently than one would like to admit. She even shared examples from among her friends on the college campus.

With no intension of offending the fairer sex, I am a bit taken aback by the change in the relationship dynamics these days. I always considered that with the criticism and the flak that men receive, usually they are the guilty ones in a relationship. They are the ones who are likely to cheat or take the relationship for granted, but my friend told me it’s the other way round also pretty frequently.

Based on what I have personally seen recently, I can hardly argue with my friend. But at this point, I would like to question both the genders out there, “Is it justified that even after all this, men are the ones to usually get the blame in a relationship?” OR, “Why are the adjectives MCP – Male Chauvinistic Pigs, reserved for just one gender?”