Wednesday 30 December 2015
Do what you like because…?
Recently, I visited a mall in Bhopal. It was evening and there was a rock show going on near the entrance. I was with a friend and we both stopped to check out the singer. He was literally good, and thus we spent some time at the place hearing him out.
 |
| Um..Not exactly my point! |
Amidst the contrasting lighting, I figured out that the singer was someone I have known before. On carefully watching his face, keeping my patience and sanity intact, I figured out that he was a school junior.
We used to play football back in the days. And have even exchanged pleasantries one time recently. Honestly, I was awestruck with his voice. Trust me, I don’t praise unless I mean it completely.
In fact, his semester exams were going on that time. So, giving out such a performance in a crucial time when your exams are on the head is a big thing. I can’t really imagine myself doing that.
But, more or less, he was the man of the hour who was doing what he does best; sing.
Amidst all the glitter, glamour and singing, I was constantly in conversation with my friend who was relishing the aura, songs and what not? Everything.
Me: Yaar, banda to gajab ga raha he. Hena?
Friend: Han bhai. Talented he.
Me: Wahi to yaar. Aur mujhe hawa bhi nhi lagi aajtak. Rockstars logo se contact he mere.
Friend: Tere bagal me aaj Ambani khada he. Tujhe ye baad me realize hoga.
Me: Hao! Acha, iske papers chal rahe he. Manna padega. Tab bhi show kar raha he.
Friend: Bhai, paper waper hote rehte he. Wo sab nikal jayega. Sab pass ho jate he. Ye har koi nhi karta he. Yahi life he. Jo pasand he wo karo.
And this is the point that struck me.
Do what you like. Do as you like. Do even if nobody notices it. Just do it. (Nike, will you pay me for the ad?)
Because it makes you happy!
Friday 13 November 2015
An Honest Indian Neighbour: Random Conversation
All right! It has
been over a month since I last posted anything here. Never mind. Nobody visits it anyway! But, hey, guess what? Yeah,
yeah! You have guessed it right! This ‘guess what’ thingy has gotten old!
 |
| Honest Reaction! |
Anyways, I
desperately wanted to write a post on this title long ago. But considering my
gifts of laziness and procrastination, I could not try my hands on it. But the
time has FINALLY come when I will be doing it. Hihahahaha! *evil grin*
So, here is an ‘honest’
conversation between a random guy (RG) and his neighbour
(N):
RG:
It is a great weather . Let's go outside.
N: Arey beta! Kaise ho?
Zinda
bhi ho, jaanke acha laga. Aaj tumhari lunga. Hihahaha!
RG: Namaste
uncle! Me acha tha jab tak aapne awaaz nhi di
thi.
Acha hun uncle. Aap bataiye? Aaj mausam acha he na?
N: Acha try kara
topic control karne ka. But rishte me hum tumhare neighbour lagte he.
Me acha hun. Chalo ab maze liye jayen tumahre. Aur
kya kar rahe ho aajkal?
RG:
Bohot
sahi! Yahi question bacha tha poochne ko! Engineering
kar raha hun uncle. Khatam hone wali he.
N: Oh! Mujhe
laga kuch meaningful kar rahe hoge.hihihi.
Oh!
Acha he, acha he! Placement huya? Lagta to nhi he.
RG:
Dukhti
rag pakad li he. Ungli do to haath pakadne wale log he ye! Ji
uncle. Bus chal raha he. Hehe!
N: Sach sach bol
do. Hume bhi maze lene do.
Acha
he beta, try karte raho. Aur future me kya socha he karne ka? Sirf naukri?
Higher studies nhi karoge? Ye daala
jaal. Ab fasega murga!
RG:
Kis
muhrat me bahar aane ka socha tha aaj! Ye to kapde utar rahe he.
Abhi filhal sirf job ka socha he uncle. Higher studies ka baad me dekhunga. Hihi! Nikal le beta jaldi. Koi to awaaz de do
andar se. Koi to bula lo.
N: Sahi he, sahi he. Tumse kuch na
ho payega. Samajh gye he.
Waise
job wagera me pareshani aaye to batana. Mere ek friend he. Pass ke gaun me
factory daali he. Production ka kaam rahega. 10000 mil jayenge. Shuruaat ke
liye theek he. Uske upar
tumhari aukaad nhi he. Hehe.
RG:
Yahi
mauka he nikalne ka.
Ji
uncle! Zaroor. Thank you. Acha me chalta hun. Coaching jana he. Bhag lo.
N:
Coaching!
Ghar me ghuse rehne ki coaching. Hehe. Ok beta.
Ese milte rehna. Hume dete
rehna.
Monday 28 September 2015
Disadvantages of being rich or beautiful/handsome or both!
We all know what beauty brings with it;
access to restricted places, endless favors, no ticket for breaking the traffic
rules mostly and what not? And the same goes with being rich too.
Isn’t it? I am none, though.
 |
| That's not me! Sigh |
If I start to mention the advantages,
which I won’t because am lazy, then that will take a couple of more posts to
sum all of it!
But, to shorten the longer version with
a bad metaphor, it can be said that beauty and money are like the ultimate
weapon to escape or to take advantage of any situations. Well, Almost. Work
both ways.
I will leave the advantage part because
that is common for all of us to notice and experience in life. But, what if I
tell you the disadvantages of being beautiful or rich or both? Trust
me, ain’t drunk.
Here are a few disadvantages of it. Add
some of your own in the comment section, for when I skip something. Age
has to be blamed for my mistake.
1. They
are not considered as talented
This is the most common thing
beautiful/handsome and/or rich people get to listen on their back when they do
something big. Be it, coming first in the papers or building something great.
Or whatever. You have a better imagination. Use it.
Anything they do will be reasoned with
their hard work and commitment for it, DON’T think like this. Because it has
mostly been their money or looks that has done the trick, people say.
‘Ameer he bhaiya, asaani se jugaad betha li
hogi’
And adding to the grief, this notion
has never shifted a meter from its ground. It is affixed like the
shitty daily soaps of Indian TV channels. Gustakhi maaf ho Ekta Kapoor ji.
2. They
befriend people with hidden motives
This
is also very common. When you are beautiful/handsome, you get enough attention
all ways round that it burns people like me to the ground. Easily. Same
goes for wealthy individuals too.
Consequently, you get a mixed batch of
people associated in your life who would lick your feet and brag about you
throughout the day and continuously for weeks and weeks.
Hum mar gye he kya bhaiya? Tanik idhar bhi chaaploosi karlo.
And all this for something. May be, monetary
support or other kind of support you well know.
However, there will be a handful of
people (excluding your family) who will love you for who you
are and will be a part of your life. But, in the herd, it remains a tough task
to differentiate the good sheep or the bad sheep.
You
will always be in doubt whether people like you for who you are as a person or
for your looks or money. Period.
That is all I could think of. Would
love to have your opinion, suggestion and points about this post. Thank you for
reading.
P.S.: I love to watch Shaun The Sheep.
Do you?!
Sunday 13 September 2015
How many dates does it take to know if he/she is the one?
I
will start with the question itself. ‘How many dates does it take to know if
he/she is the one?’ (Because falling for
a nice body, perfect teeth and old lines are a cliché)
Some
will say, just one. Apparently, these people are a big fan of newspaper
astrology and apps like Tinder and iPair. Sigh.
And traditionally, belong to the love-at-first-sight category, no doubt. (Oh my! That easy!)
Others
will say, two, with their own level of understanding and reasoning. And the
last will be those pessimists who will wave it off saying, you just can’t
decipher it.
Well,
no one is wrong (but the apps don’t work), you see. Even those pessimists. After
all, we are dealing with something tricky, which, though not as hard as rocket
science, but can keep anyone pondering for years to reach an answer.
However,
having an engineering background doesn’t allow me to leave this enticing
question over fate and zodiac signs for God’s sake. We (read: engineers) are
taught (not really) to be logical on every single thing in this
world. Whether it is your dog pooping on the mattress or you reading this great
(I lie at times) article, everything can be answered logically, they
say.
Anyways,
on analyzing the question you will find that the number of dates required to
magically find your soul mate are directly proportional to certain important
points. Those points if paid attention to and checked for, can fetch you your
soul mate in just ONE date (No
money-back guarantee, kidding). Forget one date, but at the earliest. Also,
through those points you can even check whether the things are going on the
right track or have
you taken a wrong flyover.
Following
are the points to be noted (mentally):
1.
Trust: Establishing unshakeable trust is the
first important point. Why? Mostly because, majority of the people who you
presume to be a decent match as your partner is, shockingly, not
looking for one-soul-two-bodies type relationship. They want to have a short
fling (involving genitals) and part ways. In and out, just like that. And for
that, they lie about being in true love with you.
So, it is important to be fully convinced
and trust them on what they do and say. Until cent percent sure, you should not
move ahead with anything else. After all, you can’t trust a con man to win a
battle with you!
You can take precautions like the following example
(if you are a girl). And if you are a boy, then hallelujah man!
Your Date: Hey, where are you?
I miss you. I am ALONE tonight.
Wanna come watch
a movie at my place? ;)
You: Unfortunately,
this user does not accept messages after dark.
Please
try calling/messaging during daylight hours. Thank you!
Ahem! That escalated too quickly as an example.
But, you can improvise, am sure.
2. Happiness: Second
point to check for is happiness. It is important to live your life with
your better half with a glee (not all the time, though, muscle pain,
you see). So, check for a happiness percentage without a calculator and those
apps (you well know). And make sure that it comes almost 100% considering those
mild altercations and arguments at times.
Ultimately,
happiness is the key to success and definitely a master-key to a
successful relationship. So, point number two to check for is happiness. A
genuine one. Making sense. Period.
3. Love: Ah!
We are finally onto something that this whole thing is pretty much
dependent upon; Love. Make you skip a heartbeat whenever you hear
that word and a picture of your partner cinematically (with DDLJ music
playing in the background) crosses your mind, doesn’t it?. Stop.
This is
tricky because most people are initially infatuated or smitten by the other
person and they confuse it with love. And this happens more than often. So, do
not be doubtful when evaluating this thing.
‘He can stretch hands in slow motion and bend his
head to 15 degrees, just like Shahrukh Khan. I have found my love of life.’
WAIT!
What?! Do not analyze love like this!
Be
conscious and not childish in questioning yourself whether you love them truly,
madly and deeply. And in return, whether they love you too. If the answer is
100% yes, then congrats, you have three points checked. And what’s more
necessary than love between two people, right? (Oxygen and money, of course,
but that’s purely logical. Be dil-logical here.)
4. Compatibility: ‘All
right, trust, happiness and love, checked. Everything set. So, he/she is the
one for me.’
If
this is going through your mind right now, then please, please stop
thinking.
You
may wonder, why?!
And
that is a valid question. So, let me put you through it with the help of an
example.
Consider
a cricket player who has a brilliant regional cricket record, is
great looking from the market’s perspective and is highly rated. Can you still
jump into conclusion and decide him to play an international match against the
best team, considering you are the prime selector?
You
will give him a chance, right? Just to test his credibility. You will give him
more chances to make your assumption rock solid. And only when you are fully
satisfied, he will be made permanent in the team.
Apparently,
all this time, you will not hurry and get effected by external sources at all
for making a final decision. Tell me if am wrong.
So,
why to hurry while making an important life commitment? You have been patient
all this long. Have some more of that to test him/her on how they gel-up with
you under different situations.
To
be specific, how compatible are the two of you in real. For this, spend more
time with them. Associate them with your life cycle and share your problems. Do
something together apart from you-know-what (Three letter word. Starts with ‘S’
and ends with ‘X’).
Something
meaningful that will clear the cloud from how they tackle problems with you.
Whether they lose their calm or stand with you throughout it. Because this is a
very important aspect of life.
And, as
a matter of fact, who stands with you deserves you more than anybody else.
Deserves to be ‘the one’.
So,
these are the points to observe before settling for anybody. And if validation
of these take one date (really!) or a couple more, will be totally situational.
Best
wishes. (I soon expect a cheque)
Monday 17 August 2015
Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 2
Finding it hard to recall the previous story? Read here: Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 1
Oh! Visiting for the first time? Welcome. Read this: Not a love story: How they met?
‘Hi’,
said a 5’10 inches tall, muscular guy with no sense of wearing casuals and
an enigmatic grin stood behind Sahil.
With
a weary smile, Eshita responded with a single word, hi.
‘What’s up, won’t introduce me to your new friend,
huh?!’, he said with an impulsively creepy
gesture.
‘Ah, yeah.. Meet Sahil. And Sahil, this
is Anurabh.’
They
both exchanged a practiced smile and shook hands as most guys do. It is a
gentlemen’s statement which sets a good tune, generally. None of which happened
there though.
Sensing
the awkwardness sipping in, Eshita said frantically, ‘Sahil had his birthday yesterday. We were
celebrating here.’
Sahil gave
a flat lipped smile to confirm the fact, wondering about the need to reveal that.
‘Hey, belated happy birthday man’, the muscular guy extended a hand to wish him.
‘Thank you’.
*Please get it over*
Another
aura of uneasiness clouded around them. All because of the nosy new guy which
nobody liked at that point, including Eshita.
‘Mmm… So, will leave the two of you enjoy the
treat.’ The giant left sensing discomfort
around. And, Eshita immediately gave a sigh of relief.
Sahil wished
to ask about the guy but didn’t weigh in to sound desperate. And simply sighed
in relief. But he had his theory, assumptions and curiosity, everything inside,
locked safely to unleash some other time. Some better and comfortable moment.
They
both finished the food and beverages. The conversation after the strange meet with Anurabhdidn’t
bloom. It drifted above the normal topics here and there. And after a few
minutes they both left for the day bidding good-bye.
Later
that night while conversing something, Sahil popped up a question
about Anurabh. He wished to know who he actually was remembering the edgy
atmosphere earlier around Eshita, especially.
Sahil was
curious and bold enough to put that up to Eshita. She took her time to
reply and after so much of typing… she said, ‘He was a friend.’
Sahil didn’t
believe her. But he didn’t wish to play lawyer-lawyer that time. So, he drifted
the subject to something else.
‘Up for a truth and dare game?’ *winked*
‘Mmm… all right. Sure’, said Eshita with brooding eyes, as if
recalling something important. She was still not through with the question
of Anurabh.
Anyways,
they kick-started the game and it subsequently got interesting with
the passing time. Nobody was willing to sleep even at 2 in the morning. Their
eyes started to water, fingers yelled for a break and other biological signals
were clear that sleep has knocked at the doors. But they didn’t attend to it
and kept the game going.
And
as the game progressed, they came to know about each other even more. With
every passing question and every information shared, the bond was strengthening.
After all, they knew each other’s little secrets now. And secrets bind two
people just like fevicol. Quickly and strongly.
‘Ok, so 1 last question for tonight. You ask’, said Eshita. Seemed like she opened the door
for the sleep.
Knowing
the condition, Sahil gave a devilish smile and almost typed a
question regarding that bulky, puzzling guy, Anurabh, this
morning. But right before pressing enter, he reconsidered.
He
contemplated that if he questions about him again to her, then she might get
suspicious about his unsettling curiosity. Presumably, she will feel that he
doubts her, which he does, but not want to make it so obvious. And that will
not be a good signal to send.
But,
also at the same time, he wished to ascertain his deductions about Anurabh and Eshita.
He wished to know that he was right about the situation. And that Eshita lied
to her. His child like enthusiasm was at the peak. So, he rephrased the question
as..
‘Is there anything that I should know about you?’ *fingers crossed*
Eshita immediately
replied, ‘No, I have told you every
important thing.’
Sahil kept
patience and didn’t type anything to put the bait.
When
people hide something, they feel extremely uncomfortable with another person’s
silence. So, they either blur out anything or something relevant, to convince
the other person under such situations.
After
20 secs of no reply, Eshita did become a little anxious.
‘There?’
She asked.
No
reply. Sahil was simply testing her patience and waiting for the
answer that he thinks is right.
After
another 30 secs, she added, ‘Seems like
you have slept’. Restlessness was all over her.
She
could see that the messages have been read, so that made her uncomfortable.
She started to ponder whether Sahil knows the truth or has his
doubts. Or whether she is just over-thinking about it. She kept evaluating and
assessing for a while. And with no reply coming from the other side, made her
clench her fingers in tension.
But
finally, after 2 mins, she wrote this.
‘Seems like you have slept. No problem, we will
talk tomorrow. Also, one thing about which I lied earlier is that, the guy you
met this morning, Anurabh, was my boyfriend. We broke up last week. Sorry
to lie about it. I hope you won’t mind. Have a great night. Tc.’
And
she went to sleep peacefully with no burden. She spoke the truth. She was a
free bird with no guilt.
Sahil on
the other side banged the desk in victory. He knew there was something fishy.
His detective skills were improving with Sherlock’s episodes on a roll.
He
was happy to know that she revealed the truth. Mostly because of his own
efforts. But the thing that puzzled him was why did she hide it in the first
place?! Whether she thought he might not like it and this would affect the bond
between them. Or, she simply wanted to keep it personal. All this was blurry!
And
such questions raided his mind continuously until he caught a sleep. He didn’t
reply to her because that might have generated another round of questions and
speculations about his sudden absence and arrival. However, he planned on
sending a message in the morning at the earliest. And with that he closed his
eyes and got lost in the peaceful darkness.
To
be continued…
Monday 27 July 2015
Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 1
There he was at Café Coffee day, at 5pm sharp, waiting for her and analysing his decision of being on time. How could he not work this through that a girl is always 2 quarters late on arrival?! Seemed like, those Sherlock episodes of last night didn’t work it’s magic on him.
Nevertheless, as expected, she came 15min later than the theoretically assumed time. 5.45 pm it showed on his watch along with a little disappointment on his face mixed with a pinch of regret.
Almost helping himself from the anti-climax and tiredness of waiting for someone, he stood up, walked to the other chair and pulled it out for her.
With more of a sorry-I-got-late-please-don’t-be-mad than a thank-you-for-the-chivalry face, she took the seat.
‘I am really sorry for making you wait like this.’ She immediately said apologetically enough to melt down Sahil’s little anger.
As a matter of fact, Sahil never liked to wait for anyone. He was an on-time guy and wanted others to appreciate the value of time as well. But much to his woes, things have never been the way he wanted them to be.
‘No, it is fine.’ He blurted immediately as if rehearsing it since hours, may be months, with different people at the receiving end.
Unable to comprehend the latent tension on the other side, she switched off the sorry-mode, assuming that would be of no use. After all, she has never been a make-up girl. She found it tiresome and tough to reconcile for her wrong doings after a certain point. And that point was mostly an honest ‘I am sorry.’ That’s it. Apology made for her.
Sahil didn’t like to stay with the wind too. He moved on fast. Something that time has taught him through the hard way. So he blended well and asked what she would like to have.
‘One peppy chicken roll and café latte’, she said almost hiding her excitement. She was a big time foodie and never compromised food for an hour-glass figure. ‘Who would skip delicious meals for something so materialistic,’ she would say. However, those calorie filled meals weren’t visible by her looks. Morning yoga and cardio have done its magic have paid well.
Then, almost interrupting him, she took out a gift from her purse and with a sweet sugary smile passed that to him.
He didn’t foresee that up to this extent, so he took it as a massive surprise which was quite evident through his next-to-weird reaction.
‘Oh my God. I… didn’t… mmm… that’s so sweet of you. Thank you.’ He said while fighting a frog in his throat and making awkward gestures to blend in with the situation.
She answered with a smile when he slowly placed that rectangular shaped gift box while guessing what’s inside it. He gave up too early and went on to order the food stuffs.
‘Thank you, I seriously didn’t anticipate that. You actually shocked me twice today. Haha.’ He said after coming back.
Sahil had a way of expressing himself. If he had a grudge or something he disliked, he would say it indirectly through something sweet. It is kind of an encoded message in a box of chocolate. So, mostly it went unnoticed or stayed hidden behind that alluring other sentence. This way he confessed and let go of the things while not hurting the other person. He disliked hurting people. So he avoided it as much as he could.
‘Haha. I am actually sorry for coming late. And about the gift, it is the least I could do for you birthday boy.’ She grinned.
Eshita believed that one should never visit anyone, on their birthday or a birthday party, without a gift. No matter how small it is, never go empty-handed, she thought, just like Sahil.
‘You are very smart, I must say.’ He said with the first genuine smile of the evening.
‘Thank you. Thank you.’ She chuckled.
Meanwhile, their orders comes and were about to get into business of eating, sipping coffee and more talking, but all this was taken aback by the ghastly look on Eshita’s face when she caught a glance of somebody. Somebody familiar to her. A lot familiar.
Monday 20 July 2015
Not a love story- The birthday
Note: Read
the first chapter of this mini series here.
He
logged into his Facebook account and saw 6 notifications. 3 were the truly
displeasing candy crush requests, while the remaining were the birthday wishes.
But out of all those, the last one caught his mind that read, ‘Eshita has
written on your timeline’.
 |
| Sums up a birthday! |
Unable
to contain his excitement, he immediately clicked on the link and got
redirected to the timeline post of hers that read,
‘Wish you a very happy birthday
Sahil. May you get whatever you want in your life.
PS: Too bad you didn’t tell me
about your birthday. Thank God I surf Facebook round the clock and took notice
of other people’s wishes on your timeline. This will have consequences (party
type). *wink*’
He
read it and smiled. And after thinking for a second he typed the first
thank-you message of the evening.
‘Glad to see your message. Thank
you for it. I am ready to pay for my sin. *wink*’
Thereafter
he quickly skimmed through the rest of the wishes on his timeline. He thanked
each one of them who took their time out to wish him luck. The feeling was
profound because he hid his birthday info on Facebook a year ago only to
include people who genuinely cared and made efforts for him.
After
15 mins…
He
was watching a video on YouTube when a notification sound caught his attention.
He paused the video and clicked on the Facebook tab. A childlike glee spread on
this face. It was Eshita’s reply to his earlier comment.
‘You should be. *wink*’
‘Hi. Thank you for the birthday
wish. I didn’t anticipate that.’
He promptly sent this and waited curiously for her reply.
‘You’re welcome. Though I am
angry that you didn’t tell me about your birthday.*sad*’
Over
the two weeks of interaction, this thing never caught up as a subject to them.
They mostly discussed anything except for their favorite color, hero, heroine
and birthday.
All
those basic questions that once acted as a conversation starter for most people
was surprisingly overlooked by them. May be, the times have changed. Now, you
don’t have to discuss lame things, like favorite colour, to carry on a
conversation. The list of topics is huge today. And people have become even more
open.
‘I am sorry. But this thing never
crossed my mind. By the way, when does your birthday come?’
‘Yeah, right. It will be on the
29th of the next month. Do not forget to wish me. Haha!’
‘I won’t.’ He made a mental note so as not to forget about
it. Although, he quickly added a reminder to this cell phone because of his
terrific memory power which has gotten him into a lot of trouble lately.
‘Are you free tomorrow?’ He added.
‘Mm… yeah. Why?’
‘For dealing with the
consequences. *wink* Birthday treat.’
He crossed his fingers in desperation. Something that happens with most of the
guys when they invite a girl and do not wish to be rejected or put on a wait.
‘Ahaaan. Would love to. When?
Where?’
‘Whatever time and place suits
you.’
‘Ok. Then, Café Coffee Day at
5pm?’
‘Seems fine.’
‘Alright then birthday boy. Time to
catch a sleep. See you tomorrow. Once again, happy birthday. *smile*’
‘Thank you. Have a great time.
Ciao. *smile*’
With
a thoughtful face and a set curve of bliss he logged out.
