Move On Bro

There are differences and there are plights,

You can never ever win these fights.

You’ve tried and so has she;

Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be.

Step back and take a deep breathe,

Maybe she doesn’t need you to be her buttress.

She has better shoulders to cry on,

Those who are more of her own.

They say you derive strength from the weakness around,

Maybe you’re too strong for her to be bound.

She gets hope, warmth and happiness,

From the many woes, to her they confess.

In the end, as Chester said, it doesn’t even matter,

You and her - this relationship scattered.

For her own sake, just let her be,

The distance may fuck you up, but she’s happy. 

The Caged Predator

Maybe I am not meant be tamed;

Maybe I was born to run wild.

Maybe all the fairy tales,

Were nothing but sweet lies.

Maybe I am meant to hunt,

To stalk, chase and gnaw my prey.

Not to laze around in a cozy lounge,

With delicacies on my silver tray.

Maybe they wrote my story with an open ending,

Not an effortless happily-ever-after.

To struggle and shape my own end,

With or without fancy, grand gestures.

Maybe I was created to be constantly tested,

To be challenged, till dusk from dawn.

Maybe I was put here as a message:

To the universe - bring it on.

Let Me Take Your Selfie!

Oh how I hate selfie sticks!

Being someone who loves clicking pictures, I actually should be ecstatic that someone somewhere invented this device where the photographer too is a part of a picture instead of just being a constant clicker. Now, I don’t have to be the 'outlier', standing with my camera, clicking away, getting picture courtesy’d and strutting around flaunting the better clicks – sometimes impressing people with some photography mumbo-jumbo. But that is not what taking a picture is about, right?

What is the inherent idea of taking a picture? Creating a memory or putting a moment on record. Of course, I am not getting into the short term objective of social media posts and display pictures. However, the long term idea is that when you look back to this picture; say after 20 years, you’ll remember the trip and the moment when it was clicked.

Now think of how a selfie stick memory will be like? “Oh! We went to the beach and clicked this picture of us together. Cute, right?”

And how it used to be around 5 years back? “Oh! We went to the beach and wanted a picture together. So we requested this random tea-stall guy to click. But the dude didn’t know how and we had to teach him. After a point, even our smiles had to be forced. It took him 10 attempts to finally get the right one and he did take a decent one. Later he apologized for the delay since he had never handled a camera before and was excited. This is that perfect picture he took – oh but look at the other ones too. Actually it was fun seeing him handle a camera. Sweet boy.”

What’s the difference? In addition to the picture, you got yourself a story. You interacted with a complete stranger and shared a moment with him. The whole experience wasn’t about you or your group, but it got extended to someone you never knew existed. Somewhere you gave him a happy memory too!

There is a whole process that is getting eradicated. It starts with scanning the potential picture-takers from the available humans around - those already with a camera being preferred! Trying to figure out the right thing to say - especially if you’re a bunch of girls requesting a guy and his lady seems, well, conservative. Assuring the person that the camera settings are all in place and all you have to do is click. Maybe, strike a deal – you click mine, I’ll click yours.

Of course, you always have these over enthusiastic bunch of people, who strike up a conversation about who you are and where you’re going, which adds more to the whole interaction.

But the point is can you imagine the responsibility on the person at that moment? Some people actually look scared - holding the camera like a bomb! A complete stranger - you’ll probably never see or talk to again - cares so much about your picture being perfect. It’s like their life depends on it. They even take 2-3 shots to ensure you are happy! Damn, they care! And the satisfactory smile on their faces, when you thank them? Priceless!

We hardly converse with unknown people. Be it due to technology or society in general – strangers are becoming more distant. Suspicions and doubts creep in before any other feeling when a stranger strikes up a conversation with you. Comfort zones are what make a person happy – my circle, people I know, my house, the pub I go to every weekend and of course, my selfie stick!

Somewhere there is a lack of an interesting story with a memory created through a selfie stick. Maybe there’ll be one if a random stranger snatches the one in your hand, breaks it and then offers to click your picture. That would be epic. Also, psychopathic - to some people.

Ok, this can go on. I should stop now.

Walk On!

How exactly do you define that moment when you are at the peak of a mountain and you want the world to disappear?  Why do you go quiet in the middle of the barren desert and crave for that silence to go on forever? What makes you forget everything around and just gaze at a stream flowing in the middle of a forest? To sum it all up, what is it about travelling that gives you such an intense high, which no amount of natural / chemical substance can offer?

Last 6 months have been exhilarating on so many levels for me. October 2014 to April 2015 I’ve been through the mountains, plains and the sea, covering Sikkim, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and some parts of Maharashtra. Without a doubt, each and every place I’ve stepped on has been a delight – quiet different and unique from the other. However this is not about all the places I’ve visited individually (maybe I’ll get to that some other time) – it’s about the motivation behind the ever-growing desire of packing my bags and starting off again!

From every street that I’ve been to, I’ve brought something back with me – a mental souvenir. Yes, there are always the photographs that help cherish it all and summarize the journey in all possible angles – yet another passion of mine. But nothing can replace the silent thoughts in your mind, the wind that touched your skin and the air you took in while speechlessly staring at the breathtaking view. This is the abstract experience that you take home with you. Reliving these moments in your mind can make you smile randomly while stuck in the mad traffic with cars honking all around, can make you regroup during a stressful encounter at work or can help you phase out an unpleasant situation. Basically, when things aren’t really going your way, shut yourself off and take five minutes to go back to that place your mind is madly in love with. Voila! All the shit is gone – True story!

The journey to a place and exploring that place gives you time with the most important person in your life - you (yes, in spite of the fact that you are on a trip with ten other people). It opens up your mind beyond the mails in your inbox, the ugly chats on Whatsapp, the drama with the boy / girl you like, the offers in your favourite stores, the deadline that you’ll surely miss and its aftermath, the grocery shopping – you know how the list goes. Travelling takes you beyond this list – and you don’t even have to be philosophical about it. Just take a step and keep walking.

It takes some balance between the usual, routine, business-as-usual life that you live and the life that keeps you sane – but try taking that trip you were putting off since forever and test this theory out yourself.

And of course the next time you see me in a corner day-dreaming or smiling at nothing, you know the reason why. Or maybe not!

Introspective Interrogation

You asked the landlord-

How fertile is the soil?

You asked the farmer-

How much will he toil?

You asked the merchant;

Will he be loyal?

But did you ask the land,

If it wants to get spoiled?

 

You asked the butcher;

The cost of the meat.

You asked the kids -

How much will they eat?

You asked the cook;

How much will she treat?

But did you ask the goat -

If she has achieved her feat?

 

You asked the builder -

How many planks he wants?

You asked the woodcutter;

How much timber he flaunts?

You asked the forester,

Which tree isn’t gaunt?

But did you ask the axe -

If it wants to be the tree’s haunt?

 

You asked the electrician,

The cost of the light.

You asked the tent-men & the florist;

Not to pick up a fight.

You asked the priest;

If the future is bright?

But did you ask the bride,

Why is she so quiet?

Will This Blog Post Be An Interesting Read?

How many times in the world do we walk around and feel people's eyes on us and make us doubt our own self?

Am I wearing the right clothes?

Am I too short?

Will this shirt make me look thin?

What will people say if I do this that way?

(The space here is too short to include others, but you get the hint!)

It happens to everyone- the little 5-yr old girl whose shoes should be of the precise pink color to match her clothes else her classmates would laugh at her, the lover who changes his/her tastes to accommodate his/her beloved’s choices as she/he threatens to leave, the distinguished celebrity desperate to get into the headlines else he won’t be popular.

The bottom line is opinions matter. My question: Why do they?

Well, the answer is simple- because WE let them.

We let the stares and the whispers affect our inner-self. We doubt our own choices and opinions only because others do not agree with our perceptions. It’s so intense that we end up torturing ourselves in the pursuit of perfection. We want the world to have an opinion of us which is surreal- miles away from the actual truth. We do not want to get “judged”. We don’t want to end up in the bad category. In anyone’s list of “People I Admire”, we want our names to be present with all the glory. It’s a different story that we ourselves do not admire our own being!

Being true to our own self is all that should matter. Screw the world and its opinions, it is me who matters! That should be the motto. We should not owe anyone any sort of explanation as far as the choices we’ve made are concerned. The hesitation to attempt to innovate should not exist just because people ridicule us.

“Change” is inevitable. True. But if the change is degrading your mind and corrupting your thoughts, what’s the use of its existence? Change is beneficial till a limit. After that limit, it becomes a compulsion- a task; a liability. In the process of making sure we are not “judged”, we change continuously and end up lying to our own self. The “people” are out there to judge us. People want us to change as per their convenience and it’s our job to be fair to our own self, respect what we are and stand tall!

If you don’t like how you are yourself, you are in no position to expect others to like what you are! You judge your own self, and so instead of objecting to what you are, object to others ridiculous demands and be what you want YOU to be!

For All She Wants...

Too many summits tempt her eyes,

Yet she stands strong, as cold as ice;

There are times when she gives up,

There are nights when she cries,

But the peak haunts her thoughts,

It's where her heart lies.

The only success, the only target,

For which she'll die or do,

I pray, as hard as I can, to the powers all around, 

This time let her get through.

Winners Losers

Nothing matters:

For the time we win

Nothing Attracts,

Our natural instincts

We want it all, 

No loss, no draw.

But when we lose a chance,

We hope, we pray,

We beg, we say:

Lets go back in time,

And look around,

Enjoy, Relax,

Appreciate it all,

But life's like that:

There's no turning back.

Fame Laments

I wonder why,

Everyone is running:

Running away to someplace,

They can’t even see.

Some run with a reason,

They can feel.

Others do it,

Just because their souls are not free.

They all keep running to me.

Blinded emotions run through their veins;

Choices, satisfaction tossed in the air;

When the cloud comes up, they have lost their way.

I am somewhere else-far far away;

The realization strikes a little too late.

Un Sourire

I feel crushed-
Like ice in margarita
I feel light-
Like a feather in the sky
When she walks by
The whole world is a blur
It’s her I see
When I look anywhere
I can look at her and not feel pain,
Or thirst, Or hunger
She is a drug
God I am so addicted to her!
She walks like a dream,
She smiles like a child;
Her hair, her face,
I am so crazy about her eyes.

But my heart craves for the time she cries:
When her world is blue
When her times are low
Coz that’s the time I get to do
What I love the most,
What I know only I can do;
Get her lips to smile again,
Make her laugh like the rain,
Make her jump with joy,
And sing like a crazy bird,
As her world gets its colours back

And when she looks at me with those big innocent eyes,
Her lips don’t move
Yet I hear what she says:
You know you're the one
To whom I’ll turn
When happy, when crazy,
When my world rocks;
But you're the only one
Whom I'll run to,
When I am blue,
To pick me up from the darkness around,
And make me smile;

When I see that little smile,
Winning against her tears,
I could embrace death that very instant
Coz it’s the most beautiful sight:
In the world, In the universe;
And the only reason it exists,
The only reason she smiles again,
Is me.

Boulevard of Uncertain Dreams

Walking down the streets of Alang, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Though I went on enjoying the majestic sight of the glorious ships and the dusty yet intense lanes of the town, there was something that kept hitting my thoughts. It had been two weeks since I came back home and I could not come up with any diagnosis to my problem. That was till today. I finally drew a conclusion as to why my usually inactive mind was so busy thinking.

The thing is, Alang has had a huge impact on my mind - the ships, the old machinery, the used furniture, and the dirt covered labourers – everything dull and boring, yet in some complex way, interesting and attractive. I don’t make a lot of sense here, do I? Let’s roll it from the top.

Alang is a ship-recycling/breaking yard, around 50 km from the city of Bhavnagar in Gujarat, India. It’s not only just any ship-breaking yard, but one of the biggest ones in the world. Ships from all over the world are taken here and, well, put to rest. In short, when you go there, the first sight you’ll behold is that of gigantic ships being chopped off. At first, you’ll take some time in getting over how huge these ships are when they are not partially submerged in water. And then, you’ll be awestruck by the kind of work the people there do. Yet another thing, it’s not one or two ships, but hundreds of them standing at the beach being drilled and cut to pieces.

After getting over the realization of how tiny I am (seriously!), I started opening up to the sights and sounds that surrounded the ships. From the main street from where we could see the ships, we moved to a lane that housed various shops and warehouses. The female gene in me started jumping at the prospect of shopping! I was told that these shops sold stuff that was taken out from the ships -chairs, carpets, cutlery, curtains, sheets, washing machine, dishwasher etc. You name it and it is there. So after a lot of walking, we finally went in a store that had cutlery.

And that’s when it started. I stepped in and was lost. All around the store, there were cups, glasses, saucers, bowls, plates, jugs, wine glasses placed in a number of racks. Each one of them had some sort of seal on them. There was one with a big S on it, another one with a logo. Few of them had dates printed on them. Some were fresh, some were chipped. Some were in sets; some were the only pieces left. There was nothing extraordinary about any of them-thick white china with a logo. Yet in some way, they pulled me towards them.

My thoughts were immediately taken back to my childhood, when at school we were asked to write essays and biographies on some inanimate object. It would be a coin or an umbrella or a car. I remembered that I used to make sure I wrote a sentimental story, where the coin/umbrella/car in question would be lying in a junkyard somewhere, yearning for its past life. It always got me the best marks!

Looking at this store, I could feel each and every item calling out to me, reminding me of every biography I wrote. Each one of these item had had a dream life. They were created for ships and the people who travelled in them. They had travelled to innumerable places. And yet, where are they today? In some dingy shop on the suburbs of a ship breaking yard. They started with hopes and dreams and ended up as useless trash. Of course, the lucky ones out of these would be bought again by hotels and restaurants but what about the others? Should they give up?

Why was my mind thinking about this? Well, somewhere in the whole trip my mind found a link between the plates in the store and life. Just like the plates and the cups, life starts out with hopes and dreams. It starts with a purpose and a goal. For some these dreams are fulfilled, for others, let’s just say, they are stacked up on a rack somewhere. They may get lucky, they may not. But should they give up dreaming altogether? Before I had the honour of meeting the ship stuff, I would not be sure of my answer. But now, my answer is no. It’s because while at the store, I lifted up a chipped glass and I could see it sparkle against the light, without giving up, ready to serve once again if given a chance. And I guess life should be like that. Even if we are down and low we should not give up: we should be ready to do what is expected of us at any instant. Just like the glass.

Well dear glass, and your interesting companions, this one is for all of you. I hope you guys make it big some day. Till then keep hoping, keep sparkling!

The Companion

We walk together,
You and I,
With no pretence or sorrow.
The world around us stares and shakes,
Is it love that we see,
Or something else?
We laugh at them.
It’s beyond your grasp, is all we say.
Defying everything and everyone,
Laughter our only fuel,
We go on and on.

A majestic mountain obstructs our way,
Covered in snow,
It’s cold, it’s dark,
It’s the test you see, the world claims,
Pass this and see how it ends.
Our eyes meet,
No fear in them.
We smile and start the climb.
The frosty wind blows, with all its strength,
The frozen snow breaks at every step,
Our eyes can’t see, our feet can’t walk,
Yet we go on and on.

For days together, we fight the gods,
We refuse to give up, refuse to fall.
At long last, we see the sight,
The glorious summit, in front of our eyes.
We look at it, it stares at us,
We know this is the final step.
You leave my side, for a moment, you say,
Give me your hand; I shall reach the top,
And then I shall help you there.
You reach the peak, you look around:
The brilliant sights and the melodious sounds.
With a smile on your lips, you drift away.
It’s the moment, I tell myself.
Repulsed by your victory, the wind blows harder,
Its viciousness unmatched,
Help me, I shout.
My words don’t reach you, somehow,
Is it a delusion or for real, I cannot say.
The ground shakes, in a threatening way,
I look at you,
Intoxicated by the view, your blind eyes see the sights,
Your deaf ears hear the sounds,
Of victory, of glory and nothing else.
And then, I realize, the bitter truth.
The snow shatters with a final crack,
And I go on and on.

And the world below celebrates.
Your feat. Our fall.

Play Fair!

Sports and India don’t really get along well. Of course it’s different for Cricket. When it comes to Cricket it is termed “religion” and it is claimed that,”…it unites all Indians…” etc.

The overall reaction to sport of any kind is disappointing and sad even though there are heated discussions and anger on news items like “India fails to qualify for Olympics in hockey” or “Sania Mirza knocked out in the first round of Wimbeldon”. At that point of time, that particular Hockey team or the Tennis player or the Boxer or the Shooter, in question, becomes useless. They are termed “one-time wonders” and are blamed to be more interested in endorsements and the glamour. It is ironical that an Olympic-disqualified Hockey team is what it takes to make people remember that Hockey (and not Cricket), is our national game.

But things are different for Cricket. People take interest in it, watch it, and cheer for the team. And the biggest thing, even though the team loses, people support it. There is disappointment of course. But it’s still Our Team. The players are Our Players. If a player is not playing well, fans do not lose faith in him. Fans all over the country motivate the team even after losing. When it comes to Hockey, no one has any clue about the team’s past performance. Hell, no one even knows what the names of the players are. All they care about is that they didn’t make it to that Big O and hence they are good-for-nothing bunch of losers who bring shame to the country by not qualifying. Why this sudden love for Hockey? It’s our “national game” yaar!

The only point I am trying to make here is, do not expect results from a task when you do not invest in it. Here, by investment I do not mean money, but motivation, support and cheer. A sport is not only about the sportsman spirit shown by the players but also that which is shown by the spectators. One has the right to brand a team useless, only when one had supported the team earlier. Then at least the disappointment is understood. You don’t give a shit about the sport. You don’t even know who the names of the players and then when you comment, that’s unacceptable. And that’s not fair. Just like it doesn’t matter who is playing, it shouldn’t matter who won. You need to support the team through the ups and downs else keep your comments to yourself!

The factor here is motivation or support. Take a simple example. You work in an office and your boss is a sadist (a Hari Sadu clone!). You slog like crazy; there is no proper equipment to assist you in your work. Yet, you make your ends meet and finish up the task given to you. You present it to your boss. If it’s good he won’t say a word. But if it’s bad he’ll yell at you, hurl all sorts of insults and threaten to fire you. How do you feel at that point? That’s exactly how the players feel when people do not cheer for them or motivate them, but yes they don’t think twice before finding the faults when the player(s) lose.

When the Indian Cricket Team wins even a minor tournament, the welcome they get when they come home is a sight to behold. Traffic jams, people surrounding the players’ vehicle(s), fans yelling from roof-tops. And the other Indian teams? Well they get their share of people, which is hardly one percent of what the cricketers get: handful of people, mostly the players’ family and friends, a representative of the federation related to that sport and a one-in-a-million fan.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Cricket. I am not saying leave Cricket and focus on other games. Of course not! But, even if fifty percent of the kind of spirit that is shown by the fans when it comes to Cricket is shown in other games, I am sure the players will be motivated to perform well. A better performance will lead to a better chance at winning games. And even if the team loses, the player(s) will try to give more and more to it, to win the next game. Because then, when they win, they will have a billion people to share it with. Even half a billion would do the trick. But the question is will even a quarter agree?

Taboo or Tomorrow's Truth?

Thou shalt not speak English.
Thou shalt not speak to a person of the opposite sex(Oh God!!)…er… gender.
Thou shalt not wear skirts or pants or anything which our Western counterparts wear.
Thou shalt not enter a mall or a pub, especially women (else we’ll beat the crap out of you.)

These are some of the rules which a handful of wannabe “Prime Ministers of India” want us to follow. Reason? Well, they want to stop the “westernization” of India (whatever does that mean!). They want a ban on the most ridiculous things ever. You have them coming on news channels and with a very serious face, they start commenting on how they feel youngsters aren’t following the Indian culture. And how the sight of a girl and a boy walking together holding hands and speaking English (seriously!) makes them sad, because it is anti-Indian. The moral brigade will beat up innocent girls just because they were in a pub, which is supposed to be against Bharat ki Sabhyata aur Sanskriti, and the Wannabe PM Brigade will support it. According to them, that is Indian culture-bashing up young girls who are enjoying themselves.

So for a moment I give in to their ridiculous demands and say that in India a young, working, unmarried girl should not go to a pub or a mall to have fun wearing indecent clothes (that includes skirts and jeans and t-shirts), children in schools should not study or speak, English, a girl should not see, talk or go shopping in a mall with a boy, pubs should hold a notice saying “Women not allowed”. But will the revised and updated version of Indian culture raise a voice for the girl who gets raped and murdered? Will it stop the men who molest a two year old girl, who doesn’t even know what is happening with her? Where are these men and their Indian culture when innocent men, women and little helpless children are burnt, hacked and slaughtered in the name of religion? Will it do justice to innocent victims like Aarushi Talwar and Neeraj Grover? Will it ever include real issues like education, poverty, population, female foeticide etc? I doubt whether the Wannabes would even comment on these issues.

If men having such thoughts are would-be-PMs, then what is going to happen to our future? On one hand we rejoice and boast about the progress of India, and on the other, a bunch of sadistic men are trying to put everything in the reverse gear and take us back to the Middle Ages. And considering the current voting trends and statistics, they just might be successful in doing so.
Indian culture is not the load of crap which a handful of idiotic politicians make up to get their fifteen minutes of fame. The two points, which are the essence of the Indian culture, are: Secularity and Democracy. But sadly, these two factors are disappearing gradually, giving way to the fake and unreasonable form of Indian culture. Secular India should not have people fighting on religious issues every now and then. Democratic India should not have an average turn out of only 50% during the Lok Sabha elections. I mean, if the trends continue, there might be a time where only 20% Indians vote and form the government and guess who’s Mr. Prime Minister? Our dear misogynist and sadistic Wannabe PM gang leader.

The most important question right now is who the hell are these 50% Indians who are trying to wreck our future? They are no different than the rest. Most of them are educated, employed and intelligent people. But casting a vote during elections is a big waste of time for them. They would rather enjoy their day off and sleep a little extra. A few of them don’t care because they are going to move out of the country and get themselves branded as NRIs, so voting is of no use for them. And the rest of them don’t give a shit. So they are ready to let a few bunch of people decide there future because voting, according to them, is a waste of time.

What they don’t understand is that the only way we can make ourselves be heard is if we choose a government who is willing to hear us out. How long will we keep hurling shoes on ministers to make them hear us? News channels, newspapers, magazines can help by bringing to our notice certain important issue. But at the end, it is upto us to choose a future. It can either be 50% for the favour of fake rotten Wannabes or a 100% for the favour of a happy, progressive and a transparent tomorrow. And the choice is ours. Should we just sit at a coffee shop and bitch about the government and politics, without voting or should we make an attempt to change things by doing the simplest of all things—vote.

Being selflessly selfish

Most of us think of volunteering for active social work or helping someone. It makes us feel good. It transcends us to a different level of happiness. We become great in our own eyes. Yet why is it short lived? The answer is we are eventually human beings. Everything that we do-social work, helping someone for free etc.-won’t give us the feeling of complete happiness until of course there is something in it for us. I am sure most people would get their weapons out and start a war with me; to them I would just say-take a moment and think about it.

I don’t say that I am a saint who goes out of her way to help each and every person she meets. I do that with a few people. And before anyone draws a conclusion that I am selfless, I should mention that after the initial happiness, sometimes, I do not feel very good about it. No, I am not Satan’s ally, neither am I a hypocrite (someone’s laughing). I am a human being. And so being selfish comes naturally to me. It rests in my genes. It flows with my blood.

A person cannot enjoy someone else’s happiness if he/she is not happy himself/herself. That’s the basic human feeling. It happens to the very best of us. If you say you are not one of them, well either you live in denial or you are the happiest man/woman on the planet.

It is as simple as this. You are a student. Your friend too is a student. Together you study for a test. Your friend cannot understand a particular concept. So you, trying to be selfless, stop studying for your own test and help your friend understand the problem. Eventually both of you give the test and your friend scores more than you. Will you feel happy? Yes, you might, momentarily. But after the initial happiness, what do you feel? Regret-for helping out the friend or anger-for being stupid to give up your time for your friend? So where did all the happiness go? It didn’t go anywhere. It did not exist at all in the first place.

We think the selflessness and the happiness exists, but the fact is, it is a mask worn by us to show people how great we are. Only a truly happy and satisfied person will have his real face synonymous to this mask. And in humans, that’s a rare breed. For us, the most important thing is to our own selves. As long as we are happy and content, nothing in the world can deter us. But of course, we are never happy or satisfied. The world we live in does not let us be satisfied. Because the moment a person is satisfied with what he has, he is termed a loser with no aim in his life.

And the irony of the whole thing is all of us know this blatant truth. We know we will eventually regret helping a friend as there is nothing in it for us. But we still do it. We still go out of our way in doing as much charity/social work we can do. Because we all know it’s better to have a mask of a happy person than have nothing at all. Because at the end of the day, even though we feel low and depressed about our failure, we can somehow calm ourselves by taking the credit of someone else’s success.

And that makes us, human beings, the smartest of all creations, sad.

Slumdog Perception

Slumdog Millionaire rocked the Golden Globes. It has a whooping eleven nominations in the Bafta awards and is slated to finish its winning roll with an Oscar!

So now I wonder. Is perception more powerful than education? Can a child seriously learn so much by mere perception and win a million rupees? I suppose he can. When the slumdog (not yet a millionaire!) answered Benjamin Franklin to a particular question, he did not remember a book or a paragraph or the line where the answer was written. He remembered the incident years ago. As a child guide, not only did he earn the one dollar note, but also this piece of knowledge. And all this just by looking at the note!

When we look around the world, we see many things. We remember some things while some are stored at the back of our brains. These things stored at the back may or may not come into our conscious mind. Some people have a knack of analyzing things. These people even remember each and every detail about an object they’ve seen several years back. Such people have a high level of perception. The slumdog millionaire was one of them. However, not everyone is as sharp. There are people with a low sense of perception. Such people are those who cannot even remember what they saw an hour ago.

Perception is not something that can be taught. Neither can someone have it overnight. Each individual has it inside him. Its upon him to use it or not. If he uses it, his brain gets used to the process and after a while his brain adapts to it automatically. A strong sense of perception automatically leads to a sharp brain.

When a little child begins his education, the usual alphabets, numbers etc., some importance should be given to develop his sense of perception. Once a child starts analyzing things, it becomes a habit and his brain automatically works that way. A person who cannot analyze things and learn from them, i.e. perceive, slowly stops noticing everything around him. And ‘not noticing and learning’ thus becomes his habit.

We can learn a lot by simply looking at the basic things happening around us. The chances of a person remembering a visual image is more than that of him remembering a paragraph. Other than learning, perception boosts the sense of imagination and creativity. And the whole process makes the brain sharp. Our brain learns to be on alert all the time. And it notices even the smallest unusual activity around.

So, awards or not, the message from Slumdog Millionaire is clear. Perception is an amazing thing. It has the power to help you win a million rupees. And you don’t need to be a slumdog for that!

News or Nonsense!

“Kabristan ka Rahasya”, “Ek Khooni Ghar”, “Naagin ka Badla”, “Khoon ka Pyasa Sadhu”…

This list might sound like a list of C-grade books available in a book-store of a railway station. However, that’s not the only place one can find these titles. These are the “Special Reports” of some of India’s leading news channels!

That’s right. Flipping through channels, we can find a variety of “news channels”, whose “news reports” revolve around stories like that of a palace where a king killed his queen because she had an affair with the minister and how her spirit still lives there waiting to kill any man who enters the palace. How ridiculous can things get!

Some channels cannot stop talking about how a film actress and her boyfriend made out. Not only this they claim that this is the biggest “news” and keep flashing the pictures of the film actress in the skimpiest outfit ever made. Other such “news” items talk about how two actresses hate each other because one of them lost weight and looked better in a movie which starred the other actress as well.

There will be “special reports” on how a sadhu or a tantrik can bring back the spirits of the dead and how he can make you talk to them or how an image of some god has appeared on the wall of someone’s house and how it’s auspicious!

Do we seriously need such “news”? We live in the twenty first century. People talk of life on other planets, the technology is advancing, new discoveries in every field are made everyday and here we are stuck with the ghost of a queen who betrayed her husband. What knowledge can we possibly gain from knowing how an actress made out with her boyfriend? But the biggest question of all, should the “news channels” actually be given the permission to term such trash “news”?

I do not think it’s required to show such “news items” just to increase a news channels’ ratings. Instead of showing such cheap, indecent and to some level superstitious reports, they can arrange for relevant talk shows, debates or maybe start off with an educational program which will help increase a viewer’s general knowledge, when there is no news available.

Just to sell their channel or make it “the most viewed” channel, people go to any extent. On one hand, they’ll condemn a particular act strongly like how they condemned the dancers or cheerleaders in a recent cricket tournament. On the other hand, they won’t stop showing them off. There will be an hour long “special reports” on those very cheerleaders and how colourful and “sensual” cricket has become due to them.

News is something that keeps us informed as to what goes on in our city, in our country and around the world. It is meant to keep us updated and aware. But, just for the sake of filling up slots where these news channels do not have a good story, I don’t think they should stoop to such levels where they are terming the most irrelevant nonsense as news.

Save Mankind?

Surrounded by the blistering, hot sand, a man stood, barefooted, in the desert, the sun burning his skin, his eyes thirsty to see a human form. Sometimes he ran in the hot sand, sometimes he beseechingly called out to unknown people, with all the strength inside his lungs, to come to him, and when his strengths wore out, he fell flat on the hot blanket of sand,in a semi-conscious state, till his strengths returned. Days and months and years had passed and now his hopes were shattering, giving way to a dreadful truth. His search for a mere sight of a human form, other than himself was finally drawing to a dark, horrid conclusion. He was the only one left. There was no other human being in the world. Mankind was on the verge of extinction, and he was the last survivor…

It might sound like a plot from an up-coming Sci-Fi movie; however take a brief moment to imagine a situation like this in real life. What if this were true?

Some of us may feel it’s ridiculous, others may think that a situation like this will arrive long after our generation has passed and that when the time comes the future generations will find out a solution, why should we worry? Only a few people would understand the depth of the situation. They very well know that this might not be that far off.

With the invention of various nuclear and biological weapons, it might not be a big surprise if the situation of mankind on the brink of being extinct is just a war away. Almost every nation today has successfully tested nuclear weapons. And the situation around the globe is so tense that people get enraged and start fighting over issues ranging from racial discrimination to religion to land abuse and what not. The political leaders of most countries do not look beyond their own profits. And in the future if these leaders gain from going on war, they will not hesitate. Biological weapons too have their destruction quotient. Anthrax, poisonous “death” gases, etc have a deathly impact on humans and may result in mass killings.

Apart from weapons and wars, we have the global warming situation dangling over our heads. Again for some people, it’s yet another term which will not be threat to them. Such people feel that how will their control on using electrical appliances and other equipments, which are hazardous to the environment, help curb global warming. According to them, they are just a drop in the big ocean. Even if they do something, it will not make change for the whole world. So they end up doing nothing. What they do not know is that most of the people in the world think the same thing. They are well aware of the situation; however they do not take any precautionary measures and continue to do with what they’ve always done.

Even though, the thought of an extinct human race is ludicrous, it can happen sooner than any of us can ever imagine. We still have time to make a difference. There are still things which we can do, which might postpone the threat of nuclear-wars and global warming, and give us a chance to obtain a permanent solution to this. But the biggest question is: Will the internal hatred among humans let us survive the test of times?