Closer to death

Two decades and three years I have lived. Lived. And that's the only thing that one should appreciate. Life in itself. I have lived to see people become my friends, lived to see them get closer, lived to see my parents happy and proud of my achievements. I also lived to see myself crumble, make wrong decisions, hurting people. Lived to see my dear friend pass away, lived to fight the depression, lived to collide with a person who just blew my mind away. Lived to hate love, lived to love it back all over again.

Life isn't about just living. Life is about creating an impact. People come and go. But how do you want others to remember you by should be your greatest motivation. Because the people you leave behind, the ones who adored you, the ones who sought inspiration in you shouldn't be left disappointed by your loss of interest in your life that they find interesting, cheerful, inspirational and peaceful. 

If scores of people are saying so, it must be true. 

Life is a paradise. Happy Birthday to Shubhra. 

Happy Birthday to you too. 

Mojo Jojo

I closed my eyes, head was spinning. I could listen to songs, people chatting, birds chirping, dogs barking, headphones blaring, wind rustling, the klaxon. I couldn't focus. Somewhere within, inner voice was begging me to listen to it. I sat still, trying to reach the inner sanctum of my mind. The more I tried, the more it eluded me.
I figured that the monkey called mind must be tamed. The sooner the better.

One liner

Love was a misplaced emotion. Period.

Incredible India

I am back after a memorable trip to my country, India. We see those Incredible India ad campaigns and cynically wonder what's so incredible about it. We moan about corruption, filth on the road, unhygienic environment and inflating prices. We love the foreign countries we see on TV, movies and secretly harbor a wish to settle there and lead a peaceful life, away from the chaos back home. I am glad I enjoyed quite the opposite sensation from the moment I stepped in India. I asked addresses to strangers, bargained with autowallas, talked in marathi and hindi with the restaurant waiters after a year and half. It was simple and genuine, the communication. I made sure I will not practice my Americanized behavior in India and that made me a simple Indian guy on the street. Oh how I enjoyed it!
India is a wonderful place to be and you admire her only when you return after a long exile. The roads you drove your bike on, the trees you hung yourselves from in summers, the back-alleys where you played hide-n-seek with your best friends.. You just can't escape the nostalgia as it grips you and drowns you in the pool of pure ecstasy. The food cooked by mum tastes far more delicious than those trendy happy meals served by Ronald McDonald. The variety is not limited to few changes in burger or pizza toppings.
Another important thing that is unique to India is her people. Diverse and awesome. Yes, we often see the bigger picture of mobs torching a bus in rage and dislike the entire human race. But did we ever stop to notice a common man? He's good, helpful and talks respectfully with you if you do likewise. These people aren't found in malls or multiplexes; window shopping, trying hard to look hip and talking in broken English to show how high-class they are and how they are better than an average Indian. No. The common man can be seen on chaupatis, eating pav-bhaji with his family and savoring every bite of it. The common man can be seen sweating at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to come, lost in his own world of worries. He'll still tell you which bus to board if you are lost though. Common man is found eating Pani Puri outside the multiplexes, oblivious to the sale that Lee jeans are having inside. The simplicity I saw in these people was genuine. Blissful.
I loved India and fell in love with her again. I must return and I will. The people I met were my people.

Afterdark ramblings

We always think that our neighbor has a better garden than ours. He's always more wealthier too and have better looking wife. We are never content with what we have and we never believe that we are different than the rest. We want to be someone rather than being ourselves. All our life we try to live like someone rather than living the way we want to. We fall for their facade of this is how you should live and end up living a confused life that rarely does justice to our asset - individuality. One of the reasons why facebook is growing like a wild weed is that people are more curious about other people than themselves. It doesn't help me solve the case, does it? replied Sherlock when Watson insisted him on being more social and know more about the world around him.
As we grow up it is assumed that we get more mature. Quite the opposite on social networking sites. Here we do many childish stuff and get away with it by being cool, young at heart and charmingly foolish. The more we see these things happening around us, we loosen our standards of living to fit with the crowd and thereby sacrificing our identity. Reading novels in spare time is considered a grand-dadish act and doing projects on weekends is considered anti-social. We want to show off the good things that we do to the world and bath in the compliments we get in return. We no longer do things for doing them. Doesn't this bother you? Cheating yourself? What'll you pass on to your children? The knowledge you learned from the books or the pics, status' you shared on facebook?
This is my third or maybe fourth anti-facebook post. I am not against it though. It reminds me how my friends used to be and how far the apple has fallen from the tree. After all, man's a social animal. Social and an animal.

P.S. - If you live in mediocre society, you become mediocre. So always find real men to look up to.
By the way, P.S. doesn't meant post script. It's a Parting Shot.

A few grievances

Death: The meaning of life changes when you witness death. I read in Harry Potter, 'for a well prepared mind, death is just another adventure'. But what about the unprepared one? Well, it has a severe impact on your mind and you change. You are no longer the lively person that you used to be. You keep wishing that it's just a dream but you have got to learn to live without your friends who are no more. You can't cry because it won't bring them back. You can't share it with anyone either. All you can do is grieve and stay quiet. People think you are acting weird or being super secretive or too busy. Non existent social life is looked down upon and people form their opinions about you. Not that you care. They don't know your story and the hell you go through every single day. You have to smile but it's not what you are thinking. You greet your friends only to remember that the older ones will never be greeted again. 

It's heavy. Sometimes the mind wanders too much and questions the meaning of existence. It all needs to change. Someday it will. Life is too short and the way we live it matters not for us but for the people who we leave behind. So, be good. Give some reasons to be missed when you will be gone. It's the least you can do. 

AMRI: It's disturbing and heartbreaking. 89 patients in ICU and ITU died as the black smoke filled their lungs. Hospital staff fled from the scene leaving behind ailing bodies attached to life support system. Their relatives could only watch in horror as they weren't allowed to go in by the security on site. They'll mourn for days to come. The government will condemn this tragic incident like the way it has been condemning any other event in the country that had claimed lives of few of it's residents. Compensation of 2 lakh rupees will be dished out to console the families affected. Normality will resume in two years until another incident of the similar consequences pops up. Remember Uphaar?

Football: It's a beautiful game. Sadly it's played off the pitch more than it's played on it. The politics, the money involved in turning players heads, the appalling standards of the officials and equally acerbic attitude of fans towards players from the opposition. Only a handful of players play for the crest that they sport on their chest every weekend, others, sadly play to fill their pockets. Fans are impatient too and the media just adds fuel to the fire and at times has more say in the dressing room than the coaches and managers. I love football. But with the way it's being played these days, I might not.

P.S. - Don't feel bad. You aren't that special.

Zombies from Pune

Pune is the (supposed) traditional capital of Maharashtra and all those who hail from Pune take quite a pride in this fact. Pune tithe kay une. Meaning Pune is so rich and complete in everything that the people don't need anything to complete themselves. They are born complete without Raymonds' help. Hence the swagger. Needless, undeserved arrogance reek through their breath. They undermine every other place in Maharashtra and deem it to be occupied by lesser mortals. When they open their mouth, you can sense the shit that's about to come out of that ugly orifice.
Here are a few things that I find typical in every Puneri ass.
1. Boot licking -
Want something, lick the right people. Want job? Lick the shoes of people who can get them one. Want girl? Lick her shoes till she's flattered or just tell her that their father own a big restaurant in cranky Sadashiv Peth. Want anything else? Lick everyone's feet who can prove useful. Bravo, bitches!

2. Being a parasite - 
If they cook, they cook for themselves and will flinch if someone else asks them to cook more so they can share. It affects their whatever it is. But if someone else has cooked, they hover near kitchen like a stray dog who loiter around a restaurant. They'll ask you politely, "Arey me pan khau ka?" Others being civilized, nod in agreement. Great success! No you dimwit, you are being a parasite.

3. Being a bitch - 
If they hate someone for some reason (his hairstyle, his way of living, his attitude, he being smarter than them, he having more class than them etc etc.) they'll burn from inside and then find someone to bitch about their smarter adversary. "Do you know what he did?" (even if he didn't do anything), "Do you know how he is?"(even if he doesn't give two squirts of shit about them and minds his own business) "Do you know how he eats?". They are pretty good at it.

4. Being a Puneri - 
We all must have heard by now that how Amazon is dwarfed by Mula and Mutha rivers, how rich is the culture on their banks, how awesome is their lifestyle, how Sadashiv Peth is India's very own Vatican city and shit like that. The worst part of being with a puneri ass is they'll compare everything with Pune. Eating something? This tastes just like the food in "Mahesh Restaurant". (Yeah, that's how shitty the names of Puneri restaurants are) Why don't you just shut the fuck up and gobble the food down your filthy throat rather than blabbering about how this cajun pasta tastes like misal in some shady shithole of a restaurant?

This is the class of people that I have to deal with. Hence I prefer to stay in lab or avoid any conversation that can give them an opportunity to act like an opportunistic puneri lizard. That is one of the reason I prefer to stay alone instead of socializing with these narcissist monsters. No offence, but you are those bitches who can never grow up and you'll pass on these virtues to the next generation so they can act like a bitch themselves.

Pune tithe kay une? Well, everything.