Honest Facebook-ing.

Yes. I must not, but I know I will. What can I say? I am a creature of habit. I let the lights be off, I slowly get off my bed and move towards the laptop. The dimmed light shines on my face and shows the darkness. I logon and open the window. Then I type in the search and before you know it I am halfway down the road I took an oath to avoid. Facebook is probably the biggest blackhole out there.

But hey. It’s just for this once, it isn’t like I’m hooked to it or anything. Right? Right? Like if you agree with me. Oh no sorry.

So I click on the tab that says my name. Because at my age having an identity crisis is probably the most trustworthy thing I know of. Of course subconsciously I probably expect this to tell me everything about myself. About how I can live my life and more importantly how I should. I expect it to show me all those who consider me important in an effort to highlight that my existence is validated by the approval of others. I write a clever status, poking fun at an advertisement of some political matter because this is the age where I can be brushed aside as an immature cynic by the middle aged and as a middle aged individual by the young toddler “13 year olds”. Why either figure on my friend list is probably a matter of discussion for another full moon night.

But wait, this isn’t helping. I get it I am funny and witty but that isn’t satisfying the gnawing feeling I am having inside. Like when you’re at a buffet and you don’t have sweet for dessert. This doesn’t feel right. Oh thank the lord and saviour MZ for giving me the option to explore my home screen. Probably seeing others lives will help me feel better about my own insecurities. Because obviously everyone portrays their lives as they actually are. Not like from one high to another. Right? Right? Share if you ag….oh shoot I did it again.

Oh look, my college friend is doing a cross country road trip across another continent. Ha. This is the same guy who failed to get the seat in the metro which anyone playing varsity (in the metro Olympics) should have won. Ha. Yeah, I bet he really regrets that now. Moving on. 

Oh hey cool, a school friend got a new job. No kidding, I thought this guy was hibernating. Haven’t heard from him for ages. Wait, why has my other school friend got married? Wait, has she got married to my other school friend? Are you serious?

I'll just leave this here, shall I?

                                              

Oh okay, here’s my first favourite hipster page. Hahahaha, would you look at that. They captured my pain of existence and nicely coated it with pseudo humour to make it look like existentialism isn’t a crippling condition and in the words of some coach somewhere can be just laughed off. I wonder if that’s just a polite way to accept that trying to solve your problems means an entirely different verb followed by off from the Universe.

 Oh hey, this friend is finally writing. I am so glad. In fact I remember this one moment when we both had discussed about pursuing writing and had similar reservations about it. I guess if she has picked it up now, I might soon too right? Right? Tag a friend who….oh for crying out loud.

Hey is that my arthritic relative? Wow it really shows in this dance that they are doing. I mean arthritis is probably the kindest explanation I can give for whatever they are doing in that baraat.

Oh hey, my colleague from my previous firm is going on assignment to some Scandinavian country. Yeah I am pretty sure I did not want that. He did. I guess that insulates me from feeling a twinge of regret for not having followed the generic path of success. Thankfully I trust my decisions and rarely question myself. Can you imagine anything to the contrary?

I bet I've probably seen the worst of things now. I mean what could actually  be left?..............
The Overdosing Punctuators. NO!!!!!!!!!!! (SWEET IRONY!!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!.....yeah this can go on for a while)

*scrolling on*

Wait, Trump said what? He can’t say that. I mean he can but he really shouldn’t. I mean he has political ambitions right? Doesn’t that mean you have to be careful about what you say? Oh hey, what is this “Go to Pakis..” okay my bad.

Oh hey, its already 2. I should probably head to bed. Oh hey is that the sound of a devil spawn behind me that if I turn around will take away my soul? I mean I don’t really need sleep right?  Let’s explore the depths of my harddrive. Ooh, generic series I have seen probably a hundred times. I bet I can watch a season before I regret my decisions right? Oh well, won’t know for sure till I try.

Image credits: http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/09/why-generation-y-yuppies-are-unhappy.html

The Art of Performing Art

I happened to go to a show yesterday.  Not like a televised drama, or a movie but specifically a musical show by, if I am to believe it VH 1, India's "Next Biggest thing (2014)". Seeing the fact that it is  2016 I did have my doubts about their rankings. I mean by now he should be a big thing right?

Anyway, pedantic humour aside (yeah, like that's happening) what I took away from the show was a lesson on what differentiates the world into two broad categories, 

a)Performers.

b)Yeah, no just give me a minute.

These shouldn't be considered as categories of people, more like categories of reactions that people give. The kind of attitude people generally keep. The difference between the two? The 2 percent. 

I believe both these attitudes are like competing political parties, or pizza toppings. They have covered about 98% of your pizza.So, what is going to decide whether you can call this a pepperoni pizza with pineapple or a pineapple pizza with pepperoni? (I mean you know other than basic sense of gastronomy)

You. You and your confidence (or lack of thereof) and will to act are the three instincts that are going to push you into one of those groups. It should not be considered that one is worse than the other, but what should be a matter of consideration is what do you stand to gain from both. I have happened to realize that there is always more knowledge to be gained from doing something rather than postponing it (unless it is something like being Wiley Coyote's stunt double) . As I saw yesterday, a fine young man picked up the mic and might have lacked a certain elan, to break it down, or say request Mr Shady to stand up, but he did do a really good job of going out there and performing. He might have just started or might have been a hundred shows down, but more importantly, he picked up the mic and really put his heart and soul into it. He might've not known the words of the song, but he sure knew the song of his spirit and he sang it to his heart's content. 

That is what we all stand to gain if we try to tackle our opportunities and issues as "Performers". If we try to " keep the faith" . We stand to learn, and experience the thrill of performing, the thrill of using our skill, dexterity, and showing what you're made of to your greatest critic. Yourself.  

The 2% that I have mentioned is governed by your confidence and your will. Unless both of them are inline and aiming to really make it you will not be happy with whatever outcome you end up with. Confidence without will is arrogance and will without confidence is acting on fear. You need to control those two stallions. As long as they act opposing to each other you will always be where you are. Instead if you were to harness them and use them to complement each other and drive yourself ahead you have before yourself a chariot for your success.  In probably the wisest and simplest words on this matter, 

"If you say you can, or if you say you can't, you're right either way".

That is the crux of this argument. It is about how determined you are to just put yourself out there and give it a shot. In the long run of space and time, we're barely here for the time span of an Alien commercial advertisement. Why waste that little time and not do what we actually like and want to do?

CAT:Your Life Depends On It

The Common Admission Test. For those unfamiliar with this fascinating invention, this test is a three hour duration paper testing candidates across three sections, namely, their Verbal Ability, Data Interpretation/Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Aptitude. For those familiar with it, yes it might have changed since you gave it or read of it last.

Changes in CAT:http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/9554/CAT-2016

This post however is not a review of it nor is it a commentary on it. This article is inspired by it. The CAT has always been, not about scoring aces but just trying to find a balance between accuracy and the numbers and pardon the generic response that will follow, but it seems so much like life. (Yeah big surprise that right?)

Lesson 1: 

You Know it all. (Pun intended)

Well, almost everyone.

This examination asks you to utilise skills you learnt far back in school. Till 10th. The lessons that you learnt as a kid. It asks you to use those basic principles to solve problems of a not so  basic nature. For example as you go out in the world, you realise not all people think the same and what you heard in stories like,  "everyone is special" and "everyone deserves to be heard", might actually be a little poisonous but is a absolutely essential because our entire is society is based on mutual principles and the act of simply denying them to others can have repercussions for the entire species.

So what this paper asks you is to use that knowledge but not in a manner as black and white as one would want because honestly nothing in the world can be seen through that lens. Our actions are black and white, however our motives are extremely variations of grey and it is impossible to separate the two. Hence you need to employ your maturity and what you've learnt in the years since your lesson forming years to actually take decisions about things that matter now.

Lesson 2:

The Divides of Life.

Your life is made up of a lot of things. Work, play, school, college, family, friends, hobbies etc. Over dependence on one is an exceedingly short term view of things and honestly will never be enough to bring you overall satisfaction. Excelling in one section but ignoring a lot in the others or even in one is enough to throw a monkey wrench in your entire plan for a smooth running machinery. Nothing in your life can be entirely compartmentalized away from the other. There is just a certain level of balance you need to maintain. If you ever want to receive a higher call (I am not referring to IIM A. They might need you to also be an ET Neurosurgeon).

Lesson 3:

Time.

 It is all about time. Every question in the CAT can be done by anyone if you give them all the time in the world, but that s one thing we do not have, Since the day we are born our clocks are set and boy are they running. Before you know it your years of philosophical clarity are replaced with protests over vegetables and in the twisted ways of the world a few years down the line you are the one buying those green leafy ironic plot twists. 

Personal Experience Talk: Don't giving soliloquies in the vegetables section 

As is what goes down here. you need to time yourself and play against the clock. You have an hour for each of the parts and you need to make the best of it in that regard. With the latest change you have to spend an equal time on all, but previously it was up to you to decide how much time to spend on each. It might also be interesting to note that while at the first go that might seem to be slightly different from the reality but if you think about it, it does happen right? You're at work and suddenly everything for the day is done and you are left with this excess which you could spend, say with family, or friends or collecting stamps or making the Death Star, but as reality bites you think that the traffic might probably reduce that advantage. Or that maybe your family/friends might still be out and busy or that Harrison Ford is in town so probably not the best day for intergalactic imperialism. (Note:Not a good day for Nazi Treasure collectors or Russian Separatist leaders looking to infiltrate Air Force One either) 

Of course it goes without saying the crunch you feel when there is a paucity of time. Which is always. Be it the five more minutes to defeat the final boss, or the five more minutes you want before you present to your first boss. There isn't nearly enough of it for all the things you want to do, so it becomes essential for you to pick up what matters to you and show that in your actions. The wayside is filled with incomplete manuscripts, Tyre swings, skills, books, even people. It is absolutely essential for  you to be able to identify what has to be with you in this entire journey because things in life are just always a few steps from just fading away. 

Lesson 4:

You Win Some, You Lose Some. 

This paper is known for lulling you in with a false sense of security till you actually see how many questions you got right or wrong, and you can bet on it you will get things wrong.  Mistakes my friend are such an integral part of life that if you think you can move on without them, you have probably made one with that assumption. However unlike your usual exams in formal education you won't be told what is a mistake at that point of time. Similarly, a mistake you make here won't actually register to you as a mistake because you wouldn't have made it in the first place and there is no retake unless you wait a year. By which time you probably have a whole different load to work with. In life you will do somethings right, you will do somethings wrong. But it is important to realise that the mistakes you make will have a negative impact and they will reduce your metaphorical score, but that doesn't mean it has to affect everything you do after that. Every different issue you tackle has boundaries beyond which the only thing connecting them is you. So there is no point saying that the reason you missed your aim in Sniper school and duck hunt was because of wind. Probably you just aren't a great shot. (On the bright side you'd probably never shoot yourself in the foot intentionally. Pun and paradox intended)

There is going to be a lot to make you happy in it and plenty to make you tired of it. The thing to remember is to bash on regardless.

Lesson 5:

Happy Birthday!

It is an annual affair. It makes you think what you've actually done in the past year. Most prefer to go at it alone and yes your extended clan and brethren will be aching to know what and how you did it. Ugh. Is nihilism not mainstream yet?

Lesson 6:

There is a start, there is an end. It has all the twists and turns in between my friend.

The three hours will probably not be like an hour of video games or an hour at a buffet or an hour at work (in case your work is in the overlying area between video games and buffet). But it will still be something that gives you a challenge in a make you feel alive way. You will like it. More importantly you will make it through it. Of course what happens after is kind of better left to a matter of faith.

So there you have it. A learning lesson from an exam. Funny how these things usually happen when you're actually supposed to be doing something absolutely else.

Drift

Somewhere in the race around,
We jumped up high
But couldn't touch the ground.
We floated of far into space,
we floated away into this maze.

There isn't any anchor to hold us down,
we celebrated as we went away.
Joyous as we flew away.
Half past 10 as things settled in
and as there ceased to be
The effect of a routine,
we felt the change and a repeated burst,
of happiness and mirth, for we had set sail
for far away.
Joyous as we flew away.

Then as the last things to see,
ceased to be recollections,
but only remained memories,
There was a twinge and break
something snapped fast and quick.
You couldn't see what was left behind
nor where you were headed blind.
Then it struck once more as you went ahead,
you were far gone beyond your bed.
Away away you spin and swim,
one way channel, no fantasy or whim.
Away away you swam and spun,
away from kith, away from kin.

So we float on with this current,
shaped and moulded by forces far from elastic.
We spread on a thousand treads,
linked to the past with breaking threads.
We float on up and away,
we float on, to look back some other day.

One At A Time

"How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time"
-Quoted by some guy clearly not aware about the concept of binge eating


The above line is something I picked up while reading Mark Owen's  "No Easy Day". The story about the SEAL team that went on the mission to Abbottabad (and makes me think twice before ordering pizza at night).
The line however which the protagonist says pushed him was something that stuck with me. No not because it is an elephant. Well kinda. It is because those small words carry some big meaning. Of course those words at first go did not make much impact. Like most things we read, or hear or experience, their relevance got highlighted only when I found myself in a position to appreciate their depth. For a better part of my life, my athletic achievements have been limited to retrieving the TV remote from one room within an hour or reaching across the bed for it, and while my physical prowess is spoken with awe among sloths, among the social animals such as ourselves it is more at a value mathematicians would like to denote to be just a scrap above zero.

Will shortly be arriving.

However, in my final year there was just a push that sort of motivated me to probably cross the threshold of exertion to the limit that you can at least beat a spider trying to make a web around you. So I set out to battle my first foe, running. It has been chronicled by great many a minstrels that there was a mother who wanted her son to run, but the son preferred to watch Pokemon and that's why his tryouts for the Olympics were undone. 

Ain't no one taking me away from Kanto.

                 

Basically my years of being a politician about running around came back to bite me (yeah they ran their bit) and I finally had to push myself to at least not collapse into a human puddle. Or like collapse either. I'll spare you the details of that, but it was during one run on a particularly trying day that those words about consuming an Elephant struck me. Every step I was taking, every millimeter I moved ahead, every panting breath, gasping for oxygen (or like the light at the end of the tunnel) was one step more than what I had previously done. Every movement ahead while barely a dent was in fact a movement ahead,  and that pushed me. Every run henceforth, every length of the pool, every  skip, every extra sweet dish at Barbecue Nation, encouraged me. Just one more, just one ahead. just take the large challenge  and break it down into small pieces, till the waiters at an all you can eat buffet look at you like the physical incarnation of world hunger.         

What happened ultimately was that the run wasn't about how far I ran the race, it was about HOW I ran the race. Whether I ran it like a chore, or if I ran it as a battle. If I ran it as a compulsion or I ran it as a challenge. If I ran it, convinced that I'd have a better chance of completing the circuit if I flew or if I decided to cut the self expensed  humour and actually do something I had aimed for and that made all the difference. 

That year, those month of running imparted me the wisdom which I think actually pushed me into adulthood. Don't get me wrong, I am still in denial about maturity, but I actually feel that achieving anything isn't about conquering the thing you target. It is about conquering that part in yourself that thinks it can't. It is about shutting down your opposition. It is about taking that huge trek and breaking it down smaller and smaller till every step and breath is charging you towards your goal. 

I took that lesson with me, for this last year that I spent betwixt and between. Correction, that I continue to spend betwixt and between a lot. Aims, aspirations, cuisines etc etc. Every mammoth task that befell me at work, or every change that had to be induced was done one twirl and spin at a time.All I had to do was ensure that I did my small bit towards myself and just maintained that flow. 

While that book might've not been the pinnacle of literary achievements, or my running around been the peak of human fitness, that phase, that mindset gave me a bigger and better gift just short of the best one (life) I ever got. It taught me the best way to deal with it. To deal with life.Simply, one bite at a time. 

Parrying the Perturbing

Yes, I love alliterating. Sue me. Anyway. This post should've been in continuation of the promised trilogy, but as everyone does not crucify Marvel for muddling their trilogies, I'll hope for the same. Yes, marvel at my presumption.
To those who might benefit most from reading this, for their sake (and mine because quite frankly having small talk on paper just seems like talking to myself and I'd rather do that without written proof of it) I'll cut to the chase (this phrase always bothered me, isn't the chase but a delay to the climax?).

"Anxiety?"
"No thank you good Sir. I think I'll skip that"
"I don't think you will......*muahahahah*"
- Your brain and thought when you think about taking chances.

To describe what it feels like to me. It feels like being in a situation where I have the power to decide, but am unable to because of myself. That is how anxiety strikes me. To some it strikes like an anchor completely weighing them down. To some it hits like the strike by a debilitating weapon. To some it is merely like a pin prick. (Yeah right.)


                                          

    Perturbation Theory in Maths. That's right, no one is safe.
                                        

The thing is, anxiety completely spread over you like the way water finds it way. It just flows and knows exactly the right places to go straight through your lows and start collecting in a puddle, increasing and becoming a reservoir for spreading even more. It is all covering. It is the night. It spread so completely around and destroys all physical representations. It blocks your mind. What's worse is it separates you from your one ally to best tackle it. Reality.

I know. Those of you in the 1920's reading this because of your time travelling descendant must be saying "Oh MY! What a sensational statement this screen seems to have. My word nothing jolly good about this. No sire no."

But wait, there's more. The reason for this gasp inducing statement is that quite frankly it is the truth! Your mind is a wonderful, imaginative, magical place that can imagine castles, dragons, wizards, heroes and seas. It can also however imagine villains, storms, darkness, and monsters. That's how beautifully honest a tool it is. Somewhere down the line however it needs to be controlled. Reality, the things happening around you, daily life, it doesn't have monsters or dragons. It  isn't a fairy tale. So why use a drastic scale of imagining the worse possibilities as the only possible outcomes?Maybe you're getting it a little bit.

Step 1. If you are in a situation of utter despair. Where you feel stuck and struck dumb. When your faculties seem to be as responsive as your faculty when they try to test you. There is one foremost action you must do. Imagine anything that gives you hope. Don't just picture it, picture it in all its glory. Highlighted, in all importance, the thing that stands out and demands to be seen purely by existence. Do this, because the only opponent to an unnaturally enlarged foe, is an even stronger weapon.
This might not win the battle, but it will give you the courage to tame this beast raging around in your mind.

Step 2. The tougher one. Open your eyes. Not just physically, but use that light that your courage gives you, to pierce that mist of fear, and anxiety. Open your eyes, to see what the real picture is . What the real story is. What is actually happening in front of you. Realistically try to see whether those shackles holding you are really there, or they are really nothing but  illusory wisps.

Those daily battles, which drain you, those struggles and contests which seem to have no rules and never give you a fighting chance are not real. All those battles, are not supposed to weaken you. They are meant to test and push you. They are meant to make a better you. They aren't meant to be roadblocks. They are checkpoints, to show you that every march forward in the world will bring you a new challenge, only increasing your capacity for bearing them, beating them and bringing yourself something better ahead. That is what you need to treat anxiety as. Not as the demon to slay, but the dummy to train with. It is an artificial intelligence based creature ready to try you at every turn, but secretly, it roots for you. It wants you to grow and go ahead.

 Tackle it hence not like an over-sized boggart/shape-shifter, but see it for what it really is. A test for a newer you. A test for a further progressing you. See it as the worst of the world, to make the best of you.

Hope and Wait

"Victory comes to those who believe in it, the strongest and the longest"
-Probably someone who had his confidence on steroids
(Just kidding, I paraphrase Lt. Col Doolittle)


Of the many flaws I have being a pessimistic optimist is probably the lesser of them. However, I am pretty sure it's not just an individual streak. Quite frankly, being a pessimistic optimist, ("poptimist" if you will) is what helps you be normal as compared to a either a sugar high toddler or what you get after the toddler crashes from the sugar high. It is also something which tends to colour opinions  grey. Just one shade of it.However a person runs a risk in this kind of a situation. A risk much bigger than the captain of a bowling team deciding to give a spinner the last over to bowl. That is, they might lose the will to win.

 The fact is, in no situation can you win without first agreeing that you really want it, second believing you can get it, and third actually doing something to get it. There is attrition in almost every step which only keeps increasing as you go to every successive step. Yes, this is maths working as Hydra.  So if someone already believes that a cause is the opportunity equivalent of a mosquito (worthless), you can be pretty sure that it won't be tough to swat them out of the sky. Or off your face for that matter.  So this battle is something, which you don't even come close to winning, because instead of even preparing or trying out of the waters, you've just looked out of your window and said "The sun's too bright for surfing." or "The pizza is too cheesy for my liking". Those kind of words should not be used because whatever might be the hindrance, what it really is hiding, is a chance for you to discover a part of yourself that will face a challenge in an entirely new fashion that can surprise you!

In professions like the military, research,entrepreneurship  hitting a roadblock is almost as regular as not liking the cafeteria food, but those professionals who really believe in their calling and who really want to sustain and grow keep striving on. In the National Defence Academy in Pune, there is a line scratched into a desk (at least that's what I've heard. Quote attributed to Winston Churchill). It says: "Going through hell, keep going". Probably the best thing to refresh a person to continue on in any battle they rage is to wage it on and not take one step back (no I am not trying to go all Stalin here).


(Credits:Pintrest)

SO even if you are a "poptimist" it is not an excuse to excuse your self of aspiring to win.
Everything in life is going to put obstacles and obstructions in front to of you, no matter how  prepared, confident, etc you are. Everyone will face the same opposition that you do when doing what you are and some might have it even worse. So if you feel crippled and unable to move ahead you need to realise that the best way to get through a storm (if you must) is probably through it, for no ship that stayed in its harbour ever realised what it was meant to do.

On a trip to Manali, my father and I thought we'd try our hand at para gliding. Now this was in a very controlled environment, but it doesn't help when you're at the top a peak in a mountainous region and see that what really the activity is a slow plummet. Now I don't have a fear of heights. No one does I think. It's a fear of falling probably, but anyway, I remember standing on that patch of flat land and the instructor told me to just run straight. Now when I started running I felt a tug and thought that my guide wasn't harnessed properly so I kind of slowed down. Turns out that was the wind, but what that stop did was it changed my direction so my 5-6 meter run up now became a 3 meter run up. I remember thinking how this game of chicken could probably cost me a lot, but I jumped. The first ten seconds of that jump were magical. Not because of the plunge, or just because of the silence, but because it was that time when I felt I had run against an opposition (gravity and my fear) to do something and was actively aware of it. Agreed this was in an extremely controlled environment but what it gave me was the confidence, that no matter what maybe the force pulling you down or the thing holding you back. What you have to do is just keep running and know when to take the jump.

It is what helped me in subsequent situations like, my first diving board, my first (can't say last) 12 feet jump to 8 feet (which I missed and kind of tackled the platform) before I went to 2 feet (my own that is. It was a spectacularly unremarkable fall. Good times.), leaving home, job interviews, creative pursuits, etc.

So this is kind of like the second part to the "Win" Trilogy. I've covered the one on inspiring yourself to make the change in "http://thepisceanwindow.blogspot.in/2016/05/the-honourable-leader-of-opposition.html".

Though this step is probably where maximum people lose out because the only thing that can help you get through this is your belief and your belief is something you can lie to the world about but never to yourself. So fair warning all fellow sailors towards the trade winds that the sea will be full of storms. To all the nomads, the oasis will be in the middle of the unforgiving sand land. To all the astronauts, that the celestial heavens lie outside the pull of gravity and to everyone who is trying to move towards a goal, remember that you're two steps away from attaining everything you've ever wanted. It's just you who needs to believe in you.

My Country

There isn't much to my Land
Other than hindi and
women putting on bindis.
Well except maybe that our civilization
is over some 1000 and greater years old.
Its population is diverse
as its geography.
Its culture is richer
than its business class.
Which are still lesser
than its past.
There isn't much to my Land,
other than all stages of history.
Even with all the science,
some parts of it are still a mystery.
It is an enigma, this frigid sub tropic.
Split it in the middle and brothers remain strangers of above and below.
Or even at the sides, mentioned as a strange connect.
People of a group having one thing  common in their select.


This area where the cradle of humanity sadly remains
as a child young but misguided.
Ready to be buried
as aged, idealed but tired.
As someone who is stuck betwixt and between
two polarizing teams.
Which scream of glory to their
and only their cause.
Or the other who cry at all the Lost cause.
There is something strange in my country
that everyone is alienated
but still cries more home
than any other of the dirt and leaf
anywhere around.


There is still some hope
for people dream.
There is struggle
for everyone has something
to make it worth it.
My country is strange,
My country is different.
So you'd probably understand if I tell you,
There isn't much to my Land
that you'd probably understand.
There is just so much this land holds,
love, hope, dreams and happiness
not just sorrow and loss.
It's like most others
this breath of warmth,
this wave of chill.
It's my home, my world.
I can roam everywhere see the wonders
to gape with awe and be amazed,
but it's only here near my horizon and
between the poles,
that finally my heart, will feel both frozen and burned.

The Morning Moon

In the cradle of the morning,
watching the bawling Sun.
The Night's reflector, sets out
to meet another sink
and another different kind of dawn.

The Night was long,
dark and rested.
Illuminated by the sole fighter,
with an arsenal not its own.
Aided by comrades of distant lands,
that would turn up too late,
even if they had a chance.

There were struggles and times of doubt,
for the fighter so brave.
Basking in glory and casting a shadow,
the Champion of a losing battle.
There was but him and a time of darkness.
There was but him and a fear of the unknown.
There wasn't much a choice he had.

His Nadir and Zenith were met with silence.
Not the jubilant shouts of his Wards.
His joys were the continued humming and hum drum lives
that continued below unnoticed and indifferent.
His joy and sorrow were lost among the clouds.

He battled on,
as the doubts faded ahead and behind.
There was no beginning or end to it all
even remotely in his sight.
Yet he marched on,
defender of those who lay
unhindered by the progressions around.
Unaware of the epic war being waged around.

Then in his final act
of loyalty and defiance.
For the sake of new time of a new fighter and
new world.
He faded into the light,
unnoticed by those who finally awoke.
He left with his glance at those he saved,
he left with a strangely monolithic memory he made,
he left with his life unnoticed and unheard.
He left to wage a war, in a different part of the World.

The Honourable Leader Of The Opposition

 "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
-Abraham Lincoln


The former President and exemplary leader used these words to describe the house while addressing the issue of slavery. He goes on to state how this meant not that the house was to collapse, but that it would cease to be divided.

The lines which he used had a huge implication on the future of his country, his world and countless lives now lost to time and those yet to exist.I think somewhere down the lines, he had great wisdom here which probably would be applicable to all of us. It is essentially the struggle in most people till they finally choose themselves. 

We live in times of great options, in times of freedom. What this entails is that more options translates to better choices for people right? Not really, not always. For most of us who are trying to find our way, or how to proceed this gives the increasingly delicious but onerous choice of being a one hit wonder. Why?

Simply, because we have set that expectation for ourselves. We have taken choices to mean not that there is freedom, but that failure should be restricted which could not be further from the truth.We all have the right to succeed and do the thing we love but to expect that you won't have to iterate to get there is delusional. Some people fail to realise that those who do achieve a lot at a young age, simply iterated earlier. We all have the same avenues to go into. It is a matter of choice when you decide to stroll those unfamiliar streets.

Now coming to ourselves. They say matter and antimatter share the role of being each others "annihilators". That if you were to shake hands with your corresponding anti-matter twin,there would be a release of pure energy, and both of you would cease to exist.

(No, Republicans, anti-matter does not need "freedom")

I think those battles are always inside of us. When giving a speech or a debate there are several times when the Speaker realises, the holes in his/her argument, What they fear is someone picking up on it and questioning them relentlessly on it. Now imagine that only for every single thing you have ever done. That is kind of what happens inside you. Moreover that anti being inside you isn't capable of giving the right answers either and is far from being a rational being. Hence the questions posed to you might not be relevant but their function are just to stop you.

Ladies, and gentlemen, that is the most important house divided. That is your biggest battle and like most battles there emerges a winner and loser but at a cost. Often a huge cost. However like stated earlier in this article it doesn't have to mean that you will fall, rather that you will cease to be divided. You will be able to silence that opposition inside you, that the paralysis will cease to hinder you. You'll realise your path may not be perfect but is probably the most sensible one. Not to say it WILL be the right one, but it will appear as the most sensible one for you. It'll be the one which might not seem the easiest but will seem to be the one most aligned with your own values and objectives. It might be the toughest road you travelled (even tougher compared to the one time you had to save that slice of cake for your brother) but will be more rewarding and satisfying than any experience (even compared to the one time you ate that last slice of cake).
It is about having faith in yourself to succeed and not the absence of fear or opposition but to act on despite their presence making best of the information at hand because that is all you can do.
(Side note: it is insane the amount of things you cannot do. Like you cannot fold a paper more than 7 times across among many others)


So instead of being cowered down by opposition you need to do something, because like that Speaker on that stage, you're the one there to make a difference and get something done. You're the voice to encourage yourself to move down that unfamiliar road or sail into uncharted waters. Yes you will face opposition  but change has  a tendency to be opposed. In fact even when you're still you're facing constant opposition in the form of static friction. So why not take the battle to  a situation where you are doing something.

Courtesy :http://deutsch.physics.ucsc.edu/

If I were to further take that example of static friction, you'll notice how greater the force you apply for movement the tougher the opposition you'll face but after a threshold, it gets easier. They rightly say physics holds the answers to a lot of mysteries because what could be a simpler analogy. Not that it makes it any easier but it is a truth we have to embrace. Once you start the motion it will become easier to be in that groove and definitely more productive than just being still and not moving.

So it is probably best, to take that sky-diving class, start that start-up, take that year break for life assessment, because nothing will beat that sense of achievement you'll feel once you emerge on the other side, a winner, a champion. Having bested your fears and emerged the leader to help a divided,warring nation emerge as a superpower in its own right.
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(Don't you just love the way that metaphor ties up?)

Pre-Cognition

First of all let me be up front. All the individuals who came here for a discourse on the extra sensory probably should just go to a different link because  I will not be talking about them at all (however how have you landed here if you actually knew what would happen?). Chuck it everyone's welcome to give their two cents here.
Anyway, I am tackling this word here a little more literally. When broken down, it would mean before knowledge. Why is this scarier than the monster under your bed? (No I do not mean your sibling). Why is it almost as bad as a Trump Presidency (wait for the irony)? Simply because, you do not know it yet (though there are a different other set of reasons why you shouldn't hire a guy for the job who might tell your senators, "You're fired"). In the Sherlock Holmes, series the titular character once remarks how he does not form any notions before he reaches the crime scenes as that poisons him to have a biased view. How very apt. Though this isn't just relevant for the above mentioned high functioning sociopath, or Sherlock Holmes.

Even in the work place rumours tend to precede praise and ignite suspicions. Essentially they can end your opinion on a person before you even meet them. Not to even consider the amount of friendships you can lose out on, but think about how having this kind of a mind frame portrays you as someone who is swayed more by a mystical whisper of the winds rather than any actual concrete proof. Not a good quality in a teammate or in someone who might be entrusted to lead.Being relatively new to life and new born to maturity I have seen only the tip of the iceberg but of what I've seen, that tip has substantiated my views, that having a kind of image in your head about a person kind of makes you fit them in a kind of mould, limiting the ways in which you can perceive them which can be especially disastrous for  a leader or someone who is entrusted to look after a group of people.

Often people will end up seeing what they expect to see, and this isn't just a random claim it has actually been proven in psychology. Many might have heard of it as a confirmation bias. A situation where in people use mediums to define the end conclusion (all the science students in the house say Heeeyy!). It might be astounding but it is true. It will manifest itself extreme subtlety and before you know it the guy who took the company umbrella from the umbrella stand before you is half the reason why Global Warming and ecological balance is a problem today (Of course it isn't am I right? Climate change is so fake. Like intelligent dolphins. They'd have probably taken control if they were).

What I wish to emphasize here is how stereotyping for one should clearly warn us to the danger of such an activity as it is nothing but an extreme version of this. Instead of an individual if you attack a community. We need to realise that like many things in life we aren't in a position to understand the mystery, art and piece of work that are human beings, and so to resort to the crudest means of information gathering (including but not limited to gossip, taking of your headphones, coffee run, water-cooler talks, etc) are bound to probably fill your head with ideas about a person that may have undergone twisting to an extent that they now resemble more of a dance form than the truth. Which is a very scary thing indeed come to think of it. It can cause you to paralyze yourself when speaking to others simply because you're scarred of what about yourself has preceded you and you're unsure how to tackle it. This is the problem affecting you close home now. About how even before any of your actions or plans have materialized you are condemned to a certain role and set from which nothing but the most drastic changes might set you free which could have been avoided had those lovely gentlemen/ladies could've discussed the news for about two minutes longer. That is probably the key takeaway here. When confronted with a situation where in you're being bombarded by information about someone or something that you haven't interacted with, it's a better idea to prepare the 2 minute lead because you sure as hell won't be fit to lead having  gained poison about something yet to be or yet to be led.
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( I predicted you'd read this)

Coffee With Cream

I would have wanted to title this Tea with milk, out of my personal preference of the beverage but for some reason the almost alliteration and quick phonetic flow was too seducing to give up.
Anyway, before we proceed a simple question, do you like your coffee strong and black or smothered in cream, or for teetotalers, would you rather have that saintly beverage mixing the breath of nature and supplement of cattle. Or the bitter reality that we all have come to know?

If you do have your favourite cuppa in hand for a neither pointless nor insightful piece of work. Pun intended. A recent thought which has been bugging me was of absolutes. As someone who often wished to see the world in black and white to simplify things. As someone who wanted things to be a little less messy and let one man's hero be that for everyone finally has had to realise nothing will ever be so. What is ever so hilarious is that what we consider to be absolute stands might in a few years time be fuzzy midways themselves. World history has shown enough in this regard.
We all seem perpetually stuck on this spectrum that is expanding either side. While we may not want to be physically at either end we look to them to know our reference but slowly it seems we just lose sight. It  isn't as much of stretching of the sides as it is the expansion of the centre.  What is a balance today becomes  slightly polarized tomorrow and slowly keeps increasing.


I mean a few years ago I wanted to debate this with someone, that actions, if seen independently without context can be classified as black or white, but when you analyze them with things like purpose, they become shades of grey. My point was shouldn't we see actions as that? Purely by themselves. Though now I realise that my thinking was extremely immature, because seeing an action without purpose is like having a fire purely out of its existence. It does not make sense. An action is an agent of change. A change is precipitated by a reason and unless you see the reason you cannot understand the change. Of course things brings us back to the land of fuzz rather than discrete.

I don't have a whole lot to say on this topic because I feel I am not in the best place (in maturity) to analyze this, but I find the lack of a common defining standard or yardstick disturbing. I mean if  I were to look at measurements, without a standard it becomes a confusing mesh of random events and for some  reason if we have reached as a species a position where our actions have yardstick but existence and purpose  itself a enigma what have we really been doing all these years? \

Update:  I think this is a a discussion which might be one on which I have maintained a rather mistaken point of view. For one, I believe the most appealing thing about absolutes are the clarity and ease of functionality they promise. Of curse that would imply a set of actions to follow. On contrary I believe they are in opposition to the very essence of life. Any development we make, any progress we make has to be done as way of tackling am issue differently. Which can be done only if you think differently. Probably the day the world starts dealing in absolutes will be one where we as a civilization will just cease to grow. Probably not the best thing you know.

Touch Up

Hello again. Day 3. Trying for a trifecta here. I generally don't write very often. Definitely not as often as I'd like but a series of coincidences has kind of worked for me. Inspiring me enough to write.

While exercising today (that is a way of saying peeking in to the abyss of all those where goodies are consumed and being haunted by spirits of junk food past) I caught an extremely intriguing line on TV which really caught my attention. I actually for a brief moment assumed it was the onset of a stroke because what possible ad-man could actually be okay with the line. It was slipped in an almost shameful manner as if neither the actor nor the writer thought it was the best line to put. Then again we aren't the genius strategists who know what the people want right? We're just people. Talk about Level 7 susceptibles (sic). *A billion points to you if you get that reference*

Anyway, so this beauty cream actually said that "Smiles cause wrinkles hence you should use this cream.". First of all not to argue with the fact that the biology must be sound, but honestly is that supposed to be the best argument to pursue ? Blaming one of the most positive emotions and then selling your cream? Almost to the extent of making people buy it because they smile? It just sounded like a sick game of association. I mean what will they get next? But a hair oil because you get a hair cut. Buy some after-life lotion so that you may be moisturized in Hell/Heaven. I mean we're in a world where daily media loves to propagate bad news over actual good, to drive a consumerist culture fine, but now you have products attacking the very essence of humans?

I am most probably over reacting, I get it but there is too much at stake here. It always starts like this. Like some kind of ironic joke which the more you hear starts seeming less ludicrous. Be it your friends asking you to teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts, or people believing that a wall will help solve foreign relation issues. The world starts with "It is crazy, it cannot be true", goes to a "It cannot be true" and ultimately stops at "True.".  A monosyllabic ending for a monolithic ending.
I mean even if smiles cause wrinkles is that really that bad a thing? In some twisted way is it okay to have side effects from using certain products, but be alarmed at the reaction someone might give when hearing about "now your fairness will increase by three scales".

Cosmetics are not entirely pointless. They are often a huge confidence booster for certain groups regardless of gender but you know you have an issue when they start permeating that layer they maintain. I mean alright keep it as a shield why start pointing the guns inwards?
One does not need to go into the explanation of being a naturalist and stating its importance. We all know about the wonders of smiles and have too often now heard someone crack the "smile-mile" joke in its many variants, so why would we want anyone to take that away from us? What kind of a plastic world would we live in where utilizing facial muscles is frowned upon.....or not. What will you achieve by being perfectly wrinkle free. It's not like the afterlife has a deal where you give them a face that looks unused then they'll give you another one to try. The one which you get is the one with which you live (except unexpected circumstances). Why try to preserve it at the cost of  happiness?

Again I am not targeting a brand or the cosmetics industry. I mean to tackle this kind of thought which has started permeating in the world which thinks that the best way to look is less human, more plastic and why that is okay with people. People advocate all kinds of crap and the saddest part it those who do themselves are aware of their bullshit but as long as someone buys their yarn all they'll hear is $ka-ching$.

Honestly, please do not think there is anything wrong with expressing yourself but to actively coax yourself to be regretful of it is shameful. It isn't just a irresponsible media but a horrible message as well. Please do never curtail those 32 (unless it is inappropriate). Most of all remember if you feel burdened by all the pseudo-helpful messages and do think that it is actually affecting you way more than it should, probably the only "make up" you need is for your mood. Nothing else.

Cheers!

Steady As She Goes

So after my last entry, I did something any blogger worth his salt might do. I spammed some of my closest friends about it, so a big shout out to them (even if they didn't respond with any input. Not like I care. Pft.).

Anyway. This entry is a about fresh starts. Probably should've been ideal for the previous entry but as they say, hindsight is 6/6.
What you realise after having made multiple starts in life, such as resolutions is that probably nothing like a "fresh start" actually exists. Think about it. Saying fresh start implies that it is some new beginning. Though, in all honesty, is that really even possible? They say we are a sum of our experiences. Doesn't it stand to reason that obviously there isn't any running away from it?

"Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"

I think nothing captures the argument better than this. Of course some people use "fresh start" to imply the removal of obligations and reset to a base level, but really is that even possible? Haven't you moved beyond that level of being a greenhorn? It just seems to me there is a lot more to be learnt and remembered from our mistakes than to try to forget them. As for fresh starts, agreed they might be something which are needed in really dire situations but too often I have seen that we've become a generation that is ready to quit at things too easily. We're so eager to cut our losses that we actually start causing them. Tenacity is something which probably most of us need a lesson in. When you look at the world you see that some of the best victories, the biggest empires,corporations, armies that managed to not only survive but flourish were those which simply refused to give up no matter what the odds were. It is an extreme end and a bit of a deviation but what I am trying to convey is probably our world these days is probably so obsessed with "fresh starts" that they fail to give enough effort in their previous one.

We're a generation that was reared on choices. We've had different options for foods, cultures, religions, entertainment to the extent that all of it begins to lose its value.What they've also caused is a decrease in attention span as no longer do we follow see one thing through, but we are always looking for another option more suited to us. Trying to find a perfect fit at an age where we ourselves are still trying to make ourselves in the first place.In a time before changing your employment was something done by senior employees for broadening their horizons, now a days right at the collegiate level people are ready to jump ship. We end up trying so many different things that we fail to commit and take one thing forward.

It's not to say it isn't a good thing. It has of course caused the development of a cross trained workforce and those who already have a plan of doing so should continue with it. But what about those who try something new simply because the present is too tough and the rose tinted glasses of beginning are now fading to show their real colours. This quality manifests itself everywhere. In relationships, education everywhere. Failure to commit is probably the best way to commit a failure (I will be so disappointed if someone hasn't said that already).

The main thing I am trying to convey here is that we need to learn to commit to ourselves. We need to learn to really trust and believe in ourselves. We need to take the bull by the horns and not try a different sport. We start a battle and give up at the toughest. Probably that's the best time to continue because how worse could things get? So that's it. Don't take a fresh start. Refresh the old one.

Foreword

Hello, it's me. I was wondering if you'd like to have a chat over a cup of tea?
Yes I was thinking of going for song, but midway thought of doing a chai-pe-charcha thing which is almost the single most paradox of an activity in India. Also I spent roughly the last 30 words discussing about the first line. That has to tell you something.

So this post is more than 2 years after my cryptic-and-talk-in-poetry phase. It didn't go too well as you may imagine not many people like poetry or cryptic messages. More importantly people don't have the time.So here I am trying to start again. Is this blog going to be redefined? Now that is a subjective thing, because honestly the purpose is just as a method of thought and creative outlet without a website that knows my "Likes".  It still is of course maintained by someone  who is in the most comfortable, stable, defined period of his life. Early 20's of course. It is the time when everything is sorted and settled. For all those unable to follow, it was absolute sarcasm. So this thing might be all over the place.

Right now, I am employed with an IT giant, in Bangalore (aka: Bengaluru, aka: India's Silicon Valley, aka: The Place where traffic can violate laws of time and distance). Hailing from an extremely nomadic life, it is a refreshing change after the last 7 years I spent in Delhi (aka: "Allow me to introduce you to my dad" city). However it is even a bigger change as it marks the first time I have set out. Of course it isn't like one of those hard resets people do when they just pack shop and move out of the city. Then again, it's not like I have offended enough number of people......yet.

It is pretty crazy though. The entire experience of it. I mean right now I am doing something which in a manner of speaking can be quantified. People actually ask you more mature questions and have a hugely different set of expectations. I think the best way to describe it is that it is, different.

A cousin of mine got married this January ( to put it in perspective he was one of the guys who in our youth battled my argument regarding my friends by using the unbeatable logic of  " She is a girl, who is your friend, hence girlfriend " that should probably tell you how back we go). So anyway, here I am at his marriage and meeting these people some of whom for the very first time in my life and I realize how easy it is for us to completely remain oblivious to someone's past and history. I personally believe that anyone who doesn't know about my Power Ranger phase doesn't truly know me. I would say Pokemon phase but that hasn't ended (don't expect it too either. Charizard ftw!).
So what used to be a general introduction where in you would tell someone about your school, friends ,etc being sufficient to narrate your life story, by now you have enough in your life for them to be unable to understand you in a casual setting. It might not be such a big thing, but when I think of it in  perspective regarding all the people I know, it is mind boggling to know that someone who they might never speak to again has a better idea about them than their present friends. Of course it also means I most probably will have an equally wide set of people I need to get to know. We as a species are social, that would imply that knowing each other's story is of relevance. I think we might've forgotten that.

We use social networking sites but I think they are probably the equivalent of judging a book by the cover, or if you will.....Face ( a zillion points to Gryffindor for being so smooth with that). So to anyone out there reading this, try to find people's story. Like most they'll teach you a lot. What you've read here might probably the best way to give a foreword to you for life. I think we should all be told this more often. Everyone is and has a story. Know it to know the true breadth of the world and the creatures in it. Honestly, if you're not doing that you might just actually be wasting your time here and quite frankly wasting a lifetime can be fatal. (I had to and spent 5 minutes thinking how best to phrase it. I have no regrets. Yes the irony about time wasting is clear to me).

Anyway hope to blurt more soon. See you around!
Cheers.