A couple of faces which looked like just out of college walked to the cooler where I was filling up. They were waiting behind me for their turn.
One told the other "Dude, I was busy all weekend arranging stuff for my grampa's 80th birthday. I still haven't bought a present for him. Any suggestions?"
The other nonchalantly says “Dude, get a coffin”.
I've never laughed so hard with strangers before!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Too Much
When you were a Kid, it was mom’s handmade sweets. You stole it, hid it from your parents and siblings and binged on it until your stomach gave in and you fell sick. In college it was the heady combo of youth, booze and irresponsibility. Now as an adult, you take as much of the good as you can get … because it doesn’t come around nearly as often as it should or as you would want. Cause good things aren’t always what they seem. Too much of anything, even the sublime is not a good thing.
How do you know how much is too much? Too much, too soon. Too much information. Too much fun. Too much love. Too much to ask. Too much to give. Too much pain. And when is it all just too much to bear?
The fantasy is simple. Pleasure is good, and twice as much pleasure is better. That pain is bad, and no pain is better. But the reality is different. The reality is that pain is there to tell us something, and there's only so much pleasure we can take without getting a stomach ache. And maybe that's okay. Maybe some fantasies are only supposed to be lived in our dreams where too much is just too good.
How do you know how much is too much? Too much, too soon. Too much information. Too much fun. Too much love. Too much to ask. Too much to give. Too much pain. And when is it all just too much to bear?
The fantasy is simple. Pleasure is good, and twice as much pleasure is better. That pain is bad, and no pain is better. But the reality is different. The reality is that pain is there to tell us something, and there's only so much pleasure we can take without getting a stomach ache. And maybe that's okay. Maybe some fantasies are only supposed to be lived in our dreams where too much is just too good.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A Clockwork Orange
I travel 25kms north and back south everyday. I take the company’s generously given transport service (Did someone say that there are no free lunches?). Considering my time of travel and also the traffic, I do spend a lot of time commuting. Along the way, unless one is sleepy, there are a lot of things people do to kill time. Talk. Sense or Non-Sense, they need to talk. Joke. Bad or Worse, they (the elderly!) need to. Gossip. Fiction or Insane, they need to spread the word. (This considering that there are none from the fairer sex aboard which prompted a friend to call our cab “The Fag Express”). Music. iPod or Music Phone. Rock or Bhajan. When you are listening to loud music on your earplugs, it’s interesting to see two people converse without trying to lip read. It’s infact fascinating to see the myriad expressions of the human face and how the intricate movement of each facial muscle conveys a different sentiment.
But when you are not doing any of the above, you look out and observe. Or You think about things that you would have probably never thought about.
There are two guys filling up water from a cracked pipeline. Some would squirm at the very thought of regular filtered water. There are people walking on the road. There are vehicles on the footpath. A guy carries a bag to office. He never wore a bag to college. Some god's special day. There is a long cavalcade. They have seated god in a chariot and taking him around the city. God was bored being confined to the temple. The traffic is thrown awry. People’s hallelujah isn’t loud enough. So they are using loud speakers. Off late god isn't able to hear people's whisper.
It’s Independence Day. The tri-color is all over the place. They are beaming with immense sense of patriotism. They are spitting on a “don't spit here” sign and throwing garbage all around the waste bin except into it. IITs and IIMs were established to nurture the best brains for the service of the country. They are singing the star sprangled banner. Some one comes and says that he is making an affordable car for the common man. Elitism starts parading. Half of them are suddenly worried about the environment and the other half about congestion. They would not dare care about a common man’s dream. 'A' breaks a traffic rule and 'B' stares at him badly. 'B' had broken one yesterday and is going to break one tomorrow. This is the land of the Kama sutra. People look south when someone even mentions the dreaded 3 letter word. A lady is haggling saying that she will give only Rs.4/kg. The vendor had asked for Rs.5/kg. The same lady goes and spends thousands on a fancy dinner. It’s mid-winter. The traveler isn't settling for a non-AC bus. A nation of a billion people. One gold medal. Human eye has blind spots. Brains are not compensating. The limited vision is protecting us.
And all the while I thought strange things happened only in fictional books.
But when you are not doing any of the above, you look out and observe. Or You think about things that you would have probably never thought about.
There are two guys filling up water from a cracked pipeline. Some would squirm at the very thought of regular filtered water. There are people walking on the road. There are vehicles on the footpath. A guy carries a bag to office. He never wore a bag to college. Some god's special day. There is a long cavalcade. They have seated god in a chariot and taking him around the city. God was bored being confined to the temple. The traffic is thrown awry. People’s hallelujah isn’t loud enough. So they are using loud speakers. Off late god isn't able to hear people's whisper.
It’s Independence Day. The tri-color is all over the place. They are beaming with immense sense of patriotism. They are spitting on a “don't spit here” sign and throwing garbage all around the waste bin except into it. IITs and IIMs were established to nurture the best brains for the service of the country. They are singing the star sprangled banner. Some one comes and says that he is making an affordable car for the common man. Elitism starts parading. Half of them are suddenly worried about the environment and the other half about congestion. They would not dare care about a common man’s dream. 'A' breaks a traffic rule and 'B' stares at him badly. 'B' had broken one yesterday and is going to break one tomorrow. This is the land of the Kama sutra. People look south when someone even mentions the dreaded 3 letter word. A lady is haggling saying that she will give only Rs.4/kg. The vendor had asked for Rs.5/kg. The same lady goes and spends thousands on a fancy dinner. It’s mid-winter. The traveler isn't settling for a non-AC bus. A nation of a billion people. One gold medal. Human eye has blind spots. Brains are not compensating. The limited vision is protecting us.
And all the while I thought strange things happened only in fictional books.
Monday, March 09, 2009
The Beauty And The Beast
A long time ago, there was this boy. And there was this girl. No! I'm not going to tell you a boy-meets-girl story. It’s slightly different. But they did meet.
The boy was a li'l too hotshot for the girl. She was the 'girl-next-door' types. They became friends. The girl started having feelings for him. She liked him. But the boy never noticed. He was too hung up with the girls in his "league".
She did a lot of stuff for him. When he would miss class, she would bring him the notes. When there was no seat in the auditorium, she would give up her own. When it would rain she would give up her umbrella by lying to the boy that she has another. When there were any classes cancelled, she would inform by giving a call.
Once when they had went on an excursion, the boy was reserving a seat besides him for a girl of his "league". When the girl (girl-next-door) saw that the boy was reserving a seat besides him, she mistook that it was for her and tries to sit. In a spontaneous reaction the boy shoves the girl aside saying that it’s not for her.
The girl was crestfallen. It looked like she would cry. She just walked away. She was never the same with him again. He had failed to "see" her.
The beauty had "killed" the beast.
A few years ago, there was this same boy again. And there was this other girl. As you would have guessed by the drift of the story, this time around the girl was li'l too hotshot for the boy.
They were pretty good friends. The boy liked her. But the girl didn't consider him to be in her "league". He did stuff for her. He helped her prepare her reports. When she would be in town for work, he would take her around. He would help her in procuring notes. He helped her in her studies. He even overlooked his close friends because they were not too "fanatical" about her. Most of all, he was not what he really was.
Once he was going to meet her after a long time. He dressed up well. Picked up flowers for her. On his way to meet her it started to rain. Undeterred, he rode in the rain just to see her for a few minutes from one end of the city to the other. He thought it would be all worth it. He saw her and ran towards her and closed her eyes from behind. She just did not react the way he wanted her to. She did not even ask how he was doing. Rather she went on asking for things that he could help her with. He was crushed. Even after all that years she just didn't "see" him the way he wanted her to.
Yet again, the beauty had "killed" the beast.
What went around had come around.
We all have been the "beauty" or the "beast" at one point or the other. It’s always tough for the beauty to accept the beast. But the point is beauty doesn't have to accept the beast. All it takes is a little appreciation, little gratitude and a little love to say that you care for all that has been done to you.
We live such complicated lives. Sometimes we fail to notice the small things. And sometimes we even fail to notice big things. Because not all wounds are superficial. Most wounds run deeper than we can imagine, you can’t see them with the naked eye and so sometimes they take us by surprise. But the trick with any kind of wound is to dig down and find the real source of the injury, and once you've found it, try like hell to heal it, try to keep the beast “alive”.
The boy was a li'l too hotshot for the girl. She was the 'girl-next-door' types. They became friends. The girl started having feelings for him. She liked him. But the boy never noticed. He was too hung up with the girls in his "league".
She did a lot of stuff for him. When he would miss class, she would bring him the notes. When there was no seat in the auditorium, she would give up her own. When it would rain she would give up her umbrella by lying to the boy that she has another. When there were any classes cancelled, she would inform by giving a call.
Once when they had went on an excursion, the boy was reserving a seat besides him for a girl of his "league". When the girl (girl-next-door) saw that the boy was reserving a seat besides him, she mistook that it was for her and tries to sit. In a spontaneous reaction the boy shoves the girl aside saying that it’s not for her.
The girl was crestfallen. It looked like she would cry. She just walked away. She was never the same with him again. He had failed to "see" her.
The beauty had "killed" the beast.
A few years ago, there was this same boy again. And there was this other girl. As you would have guessed by the drift of the story, this time around the girl was li'l too hotshot for the boy.
They were pretty good friends. The boy liked her. But the girl didn't consider him to be in her "league". He did stuff for her. He helped her prepare her reports. When she would be in town for work, he would take her around. He would help her in procuring notes. He helped her in her studies. He even overlooked his close friends because they were not too "fanatical" about her. Most of all, he was not what he really was.
Once he was going to meet her after a long time. He dressed up well. Picked up flowers for her. On his way to meet her it started to rain. Undeterred, he rode in the rain just to see her for a few minutes from one end of the city to the other. He thought it would be all worth it. He saw her and ran towards her and closed her eyes from behind. She just did not react the way he wanted her to. She did not even ask how he was doing. Rather she went on asking for things that he could help her with. He was crushed. Even after all that years she just didn't "see" him the way he wanted her to.
Yet again, the beauty had "killed" the beast.
What went around had come around.
We all have been the "beauty" or the "beast" at one point or the other. It’s always tough for the beauty to accept the beast. But the point is beauty doesn't have to accept the beast. All it takes is a little appreciation, little gratitude and a little love to say that you care for all that has been done to you.
We live such complicated lives. Sometimes we fail to notice the small things. And sometimes we even fail to notice big things. Because not all wounds are superficial. Most wounds run deeper than we can imagine, you can’t see them with the naked eye and so sometimes they take us by surprise. But the trick with any kind of wound is to dig down and find the real source of the injury, and once you've found it, try like hell to heal it, try to keep the beast “alive”.
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