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December 25, 2013
October 5, 2013
What is love?
"Love isn't about succumbing to every wish of the other person, fearing the outcome if you dont - break up..
Love shouldn't be something that comes to you at gunpoint, the things that you do for love should be done cause it brings you joy, cause it means something to you!
Love should be something that you do for yourself just as much as you do for the other person!!"
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August 31, 2013
The Three Brothers (HP Easter Egg)
I am guessing nobody else noticed this either! :)
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August 25, 2013
"Such acts of human tolerance and kindness always brings back my hope for humanity"
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August 16, 2013
The (Only One?) True Love Predicament
“This is not
a goodbye, my darling, this is a thank you. Thank you for coming into my life
and giving me joy, thank you for loving me and receiving my love in return.
Thank you for the memories I will cherish forever. I love you, T.”
- Nicholas
Sparks,
'Message
in a Bottle'
As the title
obviously suggests this post is going to be a very soppy self-indulgent one,
well at any rate more than my usual ones are anyway. So you very well should
know what you are getting into.
Actually,
sometimes I think life would be so much simpler if everything came with such a
warning.
Right at the
beginning of some important chapter in your life there comes a disclaimer -
like those before the movies or on the cigarette cases.
("smoking
is injurious to health" - really? I
had no idea!)
These
warnings seems to crop up everywhere. At the violent movies, that most
impressionable children are inevitably going to watch; and at the boxes of
cigarettes, that most smokers are going to puff out no matter what!
But then I
think, just as futile as these disclaimers are in either scenarios; they might
prove just as pointless if they were to be placed at some really landmark
turning points of our life. Would we change our paths if there were anything
that warns us of the dangers or the hurt and pain ahead of you? Would we dare
not to have known/had those wonderful experiences that most of these moments
bring into our lives?
Suppose at
the precise moment that you get out of college and sit for your very first job
interview, just before you answer their first question a pop up video blurb
appears (like the one in that show in MTV) saying:
"Fun
Fact: The moment you answer this question the interviewer would be impressed
and immediately decide to hire you. You will agree to work here for considerably
lower pay that what they would have easily agreed to pay had you negotiated a
little more. They will squeeze your brain and blood for the next four years,
robbing you off of all the zeal and innovative ideas you've ever had throughout
your college life turning you into just like the pompous vegetable they
themselves have turned into!"
Now after
seeing that, would you in your right senses ever accept such a job offer?
Obviously no.
But since
there wasn't any such pop up prediction available for you at that time, you
take up that job and end up being miserable for the next four years of your
life just as it had said. You sell your soul to the devil in return for four
years of work experience in something that you never had any real interest in.
And with people that you don't care lived or evaporated.
That's
obviously disheartening, isn't it? But still, this office was the place you
discovered your affinity to Beatles and Zappa. This is the place where you will
meet a senior manager who will become one of your favorite mentor and stay so
even after you leave the company. Also, this could also be the place where you
make acquaintance with a girl with whose roommate you fall head over heels in
love. Would you dare miss out on all that??
Now, imagine
if there were to be such a disclaimer when it came to matters of the heart. But
for obvious reasons it should be different from the one above.
After all matters of the heart supersedes in importance over anything else in one’s life, right?
I suppose it must be like the one in the music video of Savin' Me by Nickelback. Just like in the video, here there is a countdown on top every prospective mate in your vicinity, stating the amount of time they are going to stay in your life.
But that’s not enough now is it? There are many other equally crucial and decisive criteria that you will tick off when it comes to choosing someone to fall in love with.
Most often I
have heard people, men and women alike, bring up this make-or-break requirement
that their prospects just have gotta to fulfill: ”He/she has got to be my soul mate."
Perdóname,
senor. What does soul mate mean exactly?
Oxford says,
"Soul mate : a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or
romantic partner."
Now, tell me
what/when/how has any man/woman/others in all of the history of mankind on this
planet ever, been able to find anything that has been remotely deemed fit to be
described as 'ideal'?
There has
always been a compromise. At some level or the other no matter good or
desirable that object might be, you always have to adjust with something. Some
might argue that this specific defect/quirk is probably what that makes this
person all the more dear to them, their One True Love.
When you had
imagined your ideal partner in the first place, did you imagine them with all
these elfin eccentricities?
Probably
not. By definition, these quirks and fancy traits that they have are for the
most part their own creations. Unique and very hard to imagine on any person
before you happen to come across somebody actually having them. How could one
possibly envision them any earlier?
Another thing that has always baffled me:
Suppose you
are married to wonderful person, you love him and soon have a couple of amazing
children with this person that you love very dearly. Then many years down the
line you come by another guy/gal who seems to be that perfect mate you have
always dreamed of. You acquaint with this person and you start a terrific
rapport just to find that you and he/she have more in common with you than you
and your spouse has ever had in all of your time together.
Let's just
assume that you go crazy in love/infatuation/lust/emotion/whatever and leave
behind the house that you have built with your spouse of so many years to go
live with this person.
Do you
imagine a happily-ever-after ending to this tale in every situation ahead?
Might work,
might not. This person that you are riding off into the sunset with, could turn
out to be the sweetest of souls ever to be born, or just another Axe Murderer
or the next Josef Fritzl.
In any case.
Could you help me understand what was the fault of your child or of the
husband/wife you leave behind?
See where
this baffles me?
August 12, 2013
Somebody and Mr. Nice Guy
Somebody asks Mr. Nice Guy: 'I hear that nice guys always finish last, and mostly end up alone.. This is the age of jerks and pricks.. Is this true??'
Mr. Nice Guy: 'You heard right, so?'
Somebody: 'Don't you get tired of it??'
Mr. Nice Guy: 'Well, it really depends on how you look at it.. Nice guys are winners before the race even starts, we don't let the game destroy who we are.. We stay true, honest, loyal..o conditions applied anywhere.. We don't SELL OUT, to SCORE MORE!!'
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July 26, 2013
First Anniversary, at First Job!
“A true balance between work and life comes with knowing that your life and activities are integrated, not
separated.”
- Michael Sunnarborg
- Michael Sunnarborg
July the 23rd, 2013
- exactly a year since I’ve started at the first real grown-up job of my life.
And as stereotyped as it seems to
be when it comes to Indians, I actually do work in IT. Still it hasn’t really turned out
to be as torturous as they make it out to be.
Maybe that comes later. I don’t know ignorance is bliss, I suppose.
Maybe that comes later. I don’t know ignorance is bliss, I suppose.
Anyway. This past one year has been a
helluva roller coaster ride; loads of twist and turns, sudden ups and
drastic downs. But nonetheless a very exciting time indeed.
Met a lot of wonderful people
(AG, KR, PV, RG, TS etc.)
Learnt a lot about the Lone Wolf guidelines
(the importance of having a healthy supply of paper soap with you at all
times, how to go from full-wallet-rich-as-shit to puny-arse-broke-as-hell in
less than a week!)
Had some really great experiences
(nomadic solo trips all around the city, rediscovering friendships, and
shedding off a few way-past-expiry-date ones...)
As for the things that go on
within the office walls. Man, each day is a revelation!
Things seem so different this
side of college.
My workplace is in the IT
compound of a Special Economic Zone. The best thing about working in SEZs and
Tech Parks, where almost always half a dozen big companies set up shop in the same
neighborhood, is that you get to meet people from many other IT companies and interact with them. So I
kind of have observed some peculiarities and similarities in almost every big
MNC I have come across. We are not all that different, you and I. Everybody is just as stuck/fortunate as everybody else.
Yes, I agree I have been away
from home since college. So you could say I already know the basics of shacking
it out on your own. But college was different. In school you know you are going
to have to spend the rest of your time there with the people around you. So you
find the most compatible ones and choose to have them around you at all times.
In a corporate, you don’t have
that option. You don’t get to choose. You have to make do with what you get because you will have at some point or the other get something done by or
for them. Most people won't be so hard to handle or like. As always it depends on your luck, and how much they know the good parts of you (if at all there exists one) and how much you get to know them.
I’ve seen the sense of putting in
an effort or time to actually get to know someone is absent here, may be
that used to be there a couple of decades earlier in our father/grandfather’s
offices; when people that you work with, somehow ended up becoming your best of
mates and your child’s god parents. It sure isn’t happening these days!
June 22, 2013
Ma's Appointment with the Surgeon
“There's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin.”
- Mitch Albom
- Mitch Albom
'For One More Day'
The hospital was huge!
Its large pillars and domes on the four corners made it seem more like a Mughal palace than a place where people come to when they are sick (or to die). There was lush green lawn outside with a smallish angel fountain in the center of it, around which the IN and OUT routes for vehicles were mapped out so that people may navigate themselves within the premises. It was quaint on the outside. Beautiful flowers were beginning to bloom on the decorative plants around the park benches in the lawn. This place reeked of rich monies. There was probably had a rich trustee or a patron, who had donated generously!
But on the inside, inevitably, the environment was gloomy. The whole place stinked, the usual stench of hospitals anywhere around the planet. The smells of medicines, anti-septics, alcohol swabs, maybe a bit of urine here and there. This hospital was just as big inside as it was outside. But the sheer number of people inside it made it seem tiny and crowded, especially around the reception's desk. That was where Vik was standing right now hands on hips and exasperation evident on his face.
Vik had just told the lady at the desk for the hunderedth time that he was here for an appointment with the surgeon for fixing his mother's leg. To which the receptionist has just informed him for the ninety-ninth time that his appointment was for 6PM and he has come in at 6:45PM he will have to wait now. She can only get him to see the surgeon once a gap shows up in the his schedule which was packed for another couple of hours, or he could take a seat and hope that someone else was just as punctual as him had an appointment today and shows up late so that she could get him into their slot.
Vik was always a kind-hearted guy but also had considerable amount of temper under his hood which he always kept in check. It inevitably showed up from time to time, especially when he has had a rough day in office like today.
---
He had had an argument with his manager at work just an hour ago,
June 1, 2013
"Smile.. You deserve it!!" :-) :-) :-)
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May 16, 2013
Their Balls Against His Bat!
“The bowler approached the wicket at a lope, a trot, and then a run. He suddenly exploded in a flurry of arms and legs, out of which flew a ball.”
- Douglas Adams
'Life, the Universe and Everything'
Another curve ball comes his way, a googly, a yorker, a killer bouncer right to his head.
- Douglas Adams
'Life, the Universe and Everything'
Another curve ball comes his way, a googly, a yorker, a killer bouncer right to his head.
What is going on inside the head of the guy with the bat, is it about how or why or what slieght of hand the bowler did to put this challenge in front of him?
Where are the spectators watching right now, is it at the bowler who is standing right the huffing and panting close to the umpire sweating like a pig and out of breath?
Who is the bowler and the fielders gawking at wide-eyed, expecting some action next? Is it at each other, in their shifty restless glorious squinted faces that has been standing there under the sun since God-knows-how-long?
Why is the time standing still?
Why are they all looking at him like that? What are they expecting of him?
4 more runs with 1 ball to go.
The odds are against him, yes. But do they think that all this pressure they are crushing him with, is going to help his case in any way at all?
Don't they understand the import of this fraction of second in his life?
May 3, 2013
A Long Time Coming
"I am using the truth, Master Wayne. Maybe it's time we all stop trying to outsmart the truth and let it have its day. I'm sorry."
- Alfred Pennyworth
'The Dark Knight Rises'
Truth.
Such a fearsome idea, isn't it. A gigantic magnificent elephant in the room; that we all know about but never come out in the open and acknowledge. We see it, sense it, register it inside our brains, and even decipher the outcome of it all. But we never really seem capable to accept it as a fact of life and take in the guts, by sheer sportsmanship.
Not all men are born sporty. Not all men can live with their true faces out in the open for everyone to see.
We all are born capable of knowing and analyzing things that happen in our lives. If anyone says that they didn't see it coming. Pal, they are lying blatantly. Maybe they themselves not realizing that they are.
April 19, 2013
The Depressing One
“So in the end you try to think of someone else you're mad at, and the unavoidable answer pops into your little warped brain: everyone.”
- Ellen Hopkins
I used to have this friend (you will soon realize why the 'used to' usage here) who thought ill of almost everyone.
Except himself that is, obviously. He was always put himself in high regard and always thought he was right in doing so.
He was the most cynical, pessimistic, illogical soul probably in all of the worlds that all of the faiths that mankind has been yet been able to invent. You show him the picture of that firefighter who leapt into a burning building and saved a 10 year old girl, and he will point out how and where the guy's hands are in the poor semi-unconscious child's body and call him a pervert. You show him the story of a rich billionaire who has just started out another multi-million dollar campaign to eradicate polio in Africa; he will show you another article where this same techie billionaire had syphoned off billions from unsuspecting customers by forcing them to buy his products. You tell him about the 10th standard girl next door whose study room light was on all night, he will tell you about the time that he saw her riding on the backseat of a bike with some guy who looked to be of her own age.
You tell him just about anything that had for some extend a flimsy bit of positivity in it. This prick could come up with something to bring you back down and rub something completely different onto your sunny-eyed face proving to you that the world is simply not worth a single sliver of silver lining no matter what.
Well. That was until he happened to fall in love.
March 14, 2013
"Johnny Depp: Thou Art Awesome!!" :-D :-D :-D
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March 7, 2013
A Friend In Need, Is A Friend Most Misunderstood
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
- Henri J.M. Nouwen,
'The Road to Daybreak'
I know I haven’t written much here for a while. Doesn’t mean I have stopped.
I am still writing, just not posting them here.
There are things happening around that may not have much entertainment value here. But I have noticed that writing it out does help me vent. Not an invitation of overtly intellectual psychoanalysis. Just a fact that I have to realize.
You see. We people are a very weird lot. We always have an inclination to put the other person under the Magnifying Glass of Doubt at every chance we get. While there may not be many reasons for one to doubt the intentions of the other guy/girl, we always have this nagging voice inside our head “what’s in it for him?” “why is she telling me all this?” “does he think I am the culprit for his problems?” “does she want me to carry forward this information to others, is that why she is telling me?”
And on and on.
We are very distrustful towards each other. We always expect the other person to have ulterior motive behind each of their actions. Mostly they don’t. They sometimes just want to be there for you. Just want someone to hang on to. Or hang out with. Not all human beings are criminal masterminds and murdering sociopaths.
We are also at times distrustful when we are the ones that need the other person’s help. We are wallowing in our own sorrows. We have a ton of problems in our lives. But we get nervous about opening up to someone and ask for their help. We think we are strong when we bear through the pain silently. But the truth is we are cowards. We are not brave enough to risk telling our troubles out loud thinking we might jinx it and actually make matters worse. And also there is the nagging thing in our heads again saying “shut up, this guy will only tell you to eff off with your problems to some place” “why would she even want to hear my sad stories?” "why is he going to help me? what is in it for him??" “no one cares about your heatbreak, you are a sore ugly useless person who is never going to get anywhere in life, you never really deserved him anyways!”
And on and on and on.
You see where I am going? People are weirdos.
We have so many things going on inside our hat-size 7 heads. How long do you suppose it is going to be capable of containing it all in before a Spears style total break-down??
We all have problems, who doesn’t? Even Obama finds himself in a tight spot three times a week. And that is when he is not running for a re-election. He has a whole battalion of problem-solvers at his disposal to do assist him in getting out of troubles. How many do you have?
No matter who you are. No matter how strong you think you are, even if you are as tall and sturdy as Dara Singh. Your heart is just made up of tissues and blood. Though they are one of the strongest ones in your body, they can only take so many of blows to it. Physical and otherwise.
Be kind to your heart. You only ever get one to call your own.
Don’t pretend yourself to be Mr.Invincible. That guy in tights fought with villians that never had to come out of the colorful pages, he never had to deal with real battles that we fight day in day out.
You cannot do this alone, pal. You need friends around you just as much as much you need air to breathe. Most times you just need one. Someone who knows everything about you and still think you are pretty darn amazing. Atleast, amazing enough to share a bucket of fried chicken with. And that counts for something.
If you have one such friend. Try as hell to keep him with you for the longest possible time. Let go of your petty ego and misunderstandings. Be prepared to give as much as you take away from the friendship. Never give up on the friendship, ever. Most of all, trust! That is the most important thing in any long lasting friendship. Struggle for its survival, like your life depends on it.
In many a way, it does.
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February 10, 2013
"Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them!!"
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
- Rudyard Kipling
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February 8, 2013
"Real Men, have the guts to agree to this.. Do you??" :-/ :-/ :-/
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February 5, 2013
"The eternal Best ACTOR!"
"Mohan Lal: Thou Art Awesome!!" :-) :-) :-)
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February 3, 2013
Learning To Love My Troubles
“I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me.”
- J.K. Rowling
‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’
In life, there always comes a time when it seems the only thing that we seem to be doing lately is whine and crib about how life is being a bitch. How everything is going wrong for you. How everyone around us is having a ball and we are stuck with that dead end job, or a relationship that seems to be going nowhere except dragging us deeper into depression.
Now pal, no matter how much you try to reject the idea you do have random burst of happiness and good times in life. Yes, it might come very rarely, at long intervals and for seemingly very short time. Might seem like sometimes you do not get your fair share of it, but trust me pal you do get enough of it. We got to be honest to ourselves here; we do have a blessed life in some way or the other. There is probably some poor soul out there in the crowd of eight-billion odd people on this planet who is probably dreaming of having your life, with and parcel of all your worries. For him, your's is the "good life".
Well, shit happens. It’s not your fault that it does. It is a normal course of things when you look at it, refer to own food consumption-excrement paradigm.
You live a good day, there is probably a bad one just around the corner.
You live a good day, there is probably a bad one just around the corner.
Granted, that is a depressing way to look at life. But that is the truth. You can NEVER avoid the bad things in life. It is high time we take that for granted.
There is no possible way for you to live life carefree. It is a myth. If someone comes to you trying to sell this myth, slam the door on their face. Better yet, shower some very creative (well deserved) profanity at them too, might give you a hell lot satisfaction. I surely would love to.
January 27, 2013
"I WISH EVERYONE EVERYWHERE ENDS UP READING THIS.. SHE IS ONE PERSON EVERYONE MUST KNOW OF!!"
Share as much as you can!! :-) :-) :-)
MUST READ - An Inspiration, An Autobiography of Sohaila.
"I was gang raped three years ago, when I was 17 years old. My name and my photograph appear with this article. in 1983, in Manushi.
I grew up in Bombay, and am at present studying in the USA. I am writing a thesis on rape and came home to do research a couple of weeks ago. Ever since that day three years ago, I have been intensely aware of the misconceptions people have about rape, about those who rape and those who survive rape. I have also been aware of the stigma that attaches to survivors. Time and again, people have hinted that perhaps death would have been better than the loss of that precious“virginity.”
I refuse to accept this. My life is worth too much to me. I feel that many women keep silent to avoid this stigma, but suffer tremendous agony because of their silence.
Men blame the victim for many reasons, and,shockingly, women too blame the victim, perhaps because of internalized patriarchal values, perhaps as a way of making themselves invulnerable to a horrifying possibility.
It happened on a warm July evening. That was the year women’s groups were beginning to demand improved legislation on rape. I was with my friend Rashid. We had gone for a walk and were sitting on a mountainside about a mile and a half from my home in Chembur which is a suburb of Bombay. We were attacked by four men,who were armed with a sickle. They beat us, forced us to go up the mountain, and kept us there for two hours. We were physically and psychologically abused, and, as darkness fell, we were separated, screaming, and they raped me, keeping Rashid hostage. If either of us resisted, the other would get hurt. This was an effective tactic. They could not decide whether or not to kill us. We did everything in our power to stay alive. My goal was to live and that was more important than anything else.
January 13, 2013
"Probably a true story for someone some where!!" :-P :-D :-D
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January 1, 2013
New Year.. Is it really?
- Dave Matthews, ‘Cry Freedom’
I thought first of writing something about the recent mishaps occuring all around the and with me personally, you know the usual sentimental whining about this and that and everything else. How the year was a lot many things, and not all of them especially endearing. How I hope this coming year might bring something new into our lives, some long overdue good news into mine! (frankly thats what I thought of when I started this post, so the contemplative title)
But then I thought, isnt that exactly the same that we do each new year? Write about how things havent turned out like we hoped it would. Make resolutions that we never seem to end up keeping. Dreaming huge dreams that seldom become reality. Expecting things that clearly come under the Unexpectables in your life for the time being.
So this year, no expectation. Zero cribbing. 100% fighting.
I am not gonna just sit back and see what life is gonna throw at me, bear it all silently. I am going to pick it all up, burden it more with my genius and shove it right back!
Only way to change anything in life is to do it by yourself and not wait for things to fall into place by itself. It rarely does!
This year has already started with some really good indications of long overdue changes happening. Lets see what happens.
Regardless of what might happen or might not happen, this one surely promises to be a helluva ride!
Regardless of what might happen or might not happen, this one surely promises to be a helluva ride!
So all I can say now to you dearest 2013.. Bring it on!! ;-D
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