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.

You Jelly?

The green eyes I see shimmer at a distance,
my life in it’s worth begs me to abate,
to give that search a little delay,
maybe chuck the search for a day of more leisure,
or may be a day after I have to meet her.
But the nagging of the shimmer at a distance,
attracts me so
how can I leave it, I wonder so.
I tread, I walk, I run to it

not knowing what lies below its hilt.
The closer I reach the shinier it seems,
is it a window or some nylon, torn at its seams?

and closer I tread more I fall,
into an abyss set halfway ,
this isn’t a walk of curiosity,
this isn’t a walk of inquiry.
It’s uncertain, it’s doomed, it’s foolish,
it’s dumb.
Somebody better wake this blithering idiot,
who has become so numb.
He walks too close, for he is sure to fall.
This man who destroy’s all
his life with this evil wrecking ball.

There Goes The Fear

This is what the light told me,
let the fire light your demons,
let your fear rage in bloom,
bursting from your bosom,
destroying your every boon.

Don’t fight it, it can’t be won.
Don’t regret it, now it’s done
treading through the barren land,
your defenses can hold out only for so long,
you can’t defeat your weakness,
when your Achilles it has found,

Fall before your Death
fall for it has no remorse,
feel it fill your blood’s course,
it’s won, it’s conquered.
While the flag is lowered and bugles blare,
give in to all the despair,
for finally you must face the truth,
this is a battle you had to lose.

Entwined In This Dance Of The Stars

Why don’t we waltz with this music playing, the sound of life? Why don’t we play further the roles we have? Why can’t we continue this costumed existence?
Let the stars of Winter twinkle a little longer, and this night be as mellow as it is now till eternity ends. All I do need is here, as it should be. All that should be here is grossly missing .This fleeting spirit that runs, what if it denies us for a minute the very, minute. Would it do so for a day? Maybe a month? Would it be considerate enough to let all plans unravel at their own speed and not be products of fleeting ideas and ill-executed movements of pseudo logic?
Is it possible in the wisdom of all that is holy and sacred we tend to idolize not absolute change rather the solace or procrastinated hope. Maybe justifying that “Hope is a good breakfast but bad dinner.”?

I strongly believe that change is a neutral entity and is the essence of life itself, we as humans however remain stuck in our roles so strongly and remain tied to them. Even if we may alter our tastes, preferences, company, etc on exposure to our previous surroundings we tend to revert back to our former selves. This may be something some of us cherish however does this also not show failure to adapt and alter perspectives? Maybe consistency is good and one should never forget one’s roots but that doesn’t mean that you keep falling back in familiar patterns.

An amusing thought it is when you realize the conflict we face in a world which tries to alter us, but at the same time tries to fit us in a fixed role. How any sort of movement and change of pattern is always met with opposition. Be it forces like friction or maybe trying to change a government. The Law of Causality is an axiomatic rock that has maybe been the steady witness over time to this phenomenon.  What is funny is that maybe if there was no opposition we could not really call it change? It would be a continued state of existence. What does this rant so blatantly beating around the bush mean?

It means maybe we should hear ourselves for who we are in the present and try to see life in all it's worth in the moment, lying underneath the shimmering stars on this Winter night.

All Grown Up.

This post is way overdue. I have been kind of busy, but more so not in the mood to write. I mean, an engineer who does writing. The one I know of the like is Chetan Bhagat so that's a bummer.
Anyway the last few months have been  a jump. Like a fast forward. Not because of the general perception that time is fleeting, but because they have made me realize, it's time I plan out a future.
To be honest it's weird. I mean I still like racing people on the stairs. I still try to balance the switch between on and off. For some reason I believe that the guy who makes questions marks and stars on his partner's copy might not be the most "consummate professional" (Even if his resume does say otherwise).

It's funny,  in college everything feels the same. In fact there are still aspects that I am still discovering and contrary to all previously formed opinion it isn't as bad a place I thought. I mean they don't serve non-veg and are like Scrooge when it comes to holidays, but still. The people too aren't that bad. In fact some are pretty cool. So I kind of do like my present. The question is when I leave this frontier and go to the beyond. Full of suits, computers, water cooler jokes and people with a bad sense of humour to whom I can't give a sarcastic retort.  How will it be? Classmates from school have nearly got it all figured out and I am on the side going like, yeah, I'll go home and eat Chinese.
Perhaps the funniest instance was when Siddharth, Puneet and I had a conversation about SAE and it's relevance. Trying to sound all responsible. The guys who laugh at the Chowpatty-Charpai joke.
I speak to my juniors and for once I do envy them. Is it a Peter Pan sort of thing? Bah. Couldn't care.

500 Days of Summer is a pretty good movie, especially the last part, when he does become serious about his career and associated clips like those are purely my only solace. I mean let's put it this way, it's not scary, just general apprehension. Can you blame me? A guy with whom I used to (and still do) talk about Pokémon, is contemplating B-Schools and specializations with respect to the job market. Who wouldn't freak out? It's like the night is over and the grown ups have to go work.

I am ready for it. Agreed I don't know how the "Corporate World" functions but you know, when I was a kid I did not know how Middle School -High School works but I made it. It's the same just that the stakes are like the REST of my life. Like a never ending final. Then again, improvisation and determination can overcome quite a bit. So yeah. I am ready to jump. I am ready to go and design/manufacture/sell/buy/fix/play/write. I say all these because the one thing I have learnt is even the kid who convinced his parents he wants to sing does have a lil voice that tells him otherwise. The individual who wants to switch fields needs a little boost to make the switch. So for all the souls looking to do it, this entry I hope convinces you that being slightly tensed is okay, but what you need to remember is the fact that your success has already been decided when you decided it. Now it's all about grit, hard work and other vaguely motivational terms.

We all start with same knowledge as a fresher in any field. It's ultimately all about your perseverance and knowledge. You should know what to take and what to reject. You should know your opportunities and be able to make your setbacks, stages for a comeback. Very few decisions are both important and easy as they say. You can't let fear steal your funk.
Here is hoping that you, me and all of us do become the rockstars/doctors/dictators/engineers/authors (even Chetan Bhagat might) that we aspire to be. Deserving of the credit of our toughest critic, ourselves.

-Yes, the fear-funk was a "How I Met Your Mother" reference.

Cheers!