PFA (Please Find Attached)

30^th December, 2009

A few days back, I was wondering on various subjects to write for my next blog. I happened to be driving, then, and inevitably in the rat race to reach anywhere and everywhere before anyone and everyone else. I was observing, how you try to overtake someone, who is driving rather leisurely, and suddenly he springs up to race you. What happens there? The otherwise carefree slow lane driver, suddenly pumps up on being approached for the fear of being overtaken? I had read somewhere about space intrusion and territorial instincts among all living organisms including humans (highest order of insecurity). But somewhere it sensed to be other than these natural instincts. On pressing more on this issue, I suddenly realized that we are an evolved species from the normal human race. We are in competition with fellow humans, the whole life. In the rut of this never-ending race, I figured, the bond has gone missing. The common force, that we all belong to, has disintegrated into so many smaller sub forces. So of course the attraction, the affection is sub standard now. The attachment, is no where to be found.

I firmly believe that if you desire something by heart, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it. It’s just that sometimes we achieve it, sometimes we don’t. When the above thought of diminishing attachment came to my mind, it instantly appealed to me. We are so miserable. However, I couldn’t pen it down, and more or less, it slipped somewhere to the back of my mind. There had been a prolonged delay in me witnessing the James Cameron’s visual treat to the world, but last night, I finally caught the fever. These guys are brilliant. For 3 hours, I could to a very realistic amount, feel my presence on the moon Pandora. The look and feel, of a whole unexplored planet, with subtle yet strong variation to our own homely earth gave me goose bumps. As the ride uncovered, I witnessed once again, the ugly face of human greed, and how we exploit anything and everything for personal gains, totally defying emotion. And the film just whacked those thoughts back to the top of my mind. The universe at play, people.

In Avatar, humans having exhausted all that mother earth could possibly offer, had reached a moon called Pandora, to rob it off a very valuable element Unobtanium. (The name is classic, unobtanium, the one that cannot be obtained). The Navi people (humanoids, genetically superior to the humans) that inhabit this body of land are connected to everything around them through a neural network. Trees, animals, fellow Navi people, everything. They are content with all that they have, and are in complete harmony with the nature. They respect and pray to their Goddess Mother Ewya. Somewhere, I felt like I was witnessing the pre-historic human. The human that is dead today, in these highly evolved genetic species that thrive and survive on earth. The human that was part of this nature, was one with everything around. A human that cared for fellow humans. I know most of us suffer at the hands of attachment, or rather for not being able to be detached. But the attachment that I am talking about is more on a global level. Disintegrating the common source that created and bound us together, and empowered us, we were successful at creating so many sub-types (caste, religion, creed) from our single human race. And like I said before, a sub-anything is just sub-standard. It has some but not all the goods of the super type, humanity.

The more we distance ourselves from this bond that binds us all into this one force, the lesser human we become. With humanity at stake, we are busy creating Avatars out of a single force, and then we fight on which Avatar is better. We better realize, coz sooner or later, someone up there has got to pull off the plug.

Please find attached, Humanity.god

Beetle, topless

28^th December, 2009

A couple of days are what the year has left to offer. The feeling is sensational. It’s like sitting on a couch, openly into the raging Niagara, facing downstream, the fall approaching rapidly. Suddenly I realize I have the best seat, front row middle. And I stand by and witness yet another set of 364 days just rushing down the sudden steep fall. What I will see beyond, is all together a new beginning, something I refuse to speculate on, right now. But behind me, I speed ahead of a lot of things that are deafeningly loud. One of them is a distinct scream of the Volkswagen Beetle, yelling from the top of the continent, the echo resonating right to the southern most tip of the subcontinent. With Beetle, Volkswagen’s saying “Honey, I am home!” It is loud & clear.

I was driving down the packed streets of Bandra suburb in Bombay. Every hour here is a peak hour. The narrow streets with shops flaunting both sides provide solace to the shopaholic, and the spender of all levels. Amidst all the peep-peep and abuses and continuous chatter, you couldn’t feel more alive. I was running late, and so was quite absent to all this activity around me. As the carnival-like ambience surged on, I saw people checking out prospective buys, a few calling out at each other, kids running joyfully and drivers completely taken in by the huge tidal wave of the traffic. Not a single soul was involved in anything a few meters beyond himself. Nobody had the time, as many prepared for the incoming festive season, and few others rushed through their chores.

And suddenly, she was there. Eye catching, like a big loud scratch on the body of a Rolls Royce, she moved gracefully and proudly through the crowd. She paraded, and commanded attention from every pair of eyes that floated at different heights in the surrounding. She looked sexy. To top that, she was topless. What a spectacle! Every head turned. Every person stopped once, whatever the hell he or she was doing, and stared. It was one of the best marketing gimmicks I have seen for a long time. And a very good one, for the record. Everybody was reached out, amidst their busy life, shaken from their maddening mist and made to appreciate the presence. For those few precious moments, everyone on that busy street thought about her. The Volkswagen Beetle had arrived. And she had made a queenly red carpet entry, and taken everyone by storm. Guess, stripping always works!

Volkswagen is marketing itself rather aggressively now, in India. Their presence on hoardings, just the large size logo budging out from the board, and a small Beetle toy replica traversing and tracing the ‘V’ & the ‘W’ repeatedly, is a loud announcement of their full stretched entry in the Indian market. They are currently catering to all possible segments in the market, Jetta & Passat in the executive sedan category, Toureg in the SUV category and Beetle in the elite premium small car category. The Beetle had always been the marketing case study for decades, and I think they have done it again. The ugly bug is like the beautiful Cinderella now.

Marketing concepts are becoming interesting by the passing minute, as all aggression and desire to stay ahead in the game is transforming into total creativity. The 3-idiots marketing team have shown tremendous and yet down to earth simple and far stretched marketing strategies. From putting “Capacity: 3 Idiots” on almost every auto-rickshaw in Bombay to printing T-shirts with the line “I am the 4^th Idiot”, to everyone stating “All izz well” they are blazing hot fire. There is no doubt left here that all is absolutely going well for them. The whole game has elevated to interesting heights, and it’s the curious entertainment seeker in me, that just can’t wait to see the climax of this block buster. But, everybody’s putting on a great show, and I will surely like to ride through, especially when it is just the beginning, and the end is nowhere soon.

Keep the Change

16th Oct, 2009

The chaos of the full-till-the brim café is almost deafening. But amidst all this, they sit, lost somewhere in a distant past, wondering how they reached this place in life. The eyes held deceit, as if they were fooled to believe that this was another person they loved. They couldn’t identify that person anymore. What changed? A lot, it seems. Nothing is like it used to be. At the same time, another voice in the mind says, that why doesn’t he change again, for good? Why doesn’t he become the person that once he was, the person that I once loved?

Nothing is permanent, but change. On one hand, we are ready to believe that the person we love, changes after a period of time. The person changes rather easily, or rather as a rule. And at the same time, we swear by the fact, that a person, who changed so easily overtime, won’t budge and become, once again what you believed him to be, once upon a time. So, if the change is possible once, what makes us doubt the possibility of a reverse change again? Why do we just give up? Is it that we are just looking for an excuse, to take the first exit and walk out? I have strong intuitions to believe that it is. We give up. We have once been through the cycle; we don’t like what we see, so we want to bail. That’s how it works. I always find it funny, when “You have changed”, and “Why don’t you change this about you” always go together. We leave the person with no practical room, do we?

That is why I advocate a “don’t enforce change” policy. A person is bound to change, so are you. When you force someone to change, you are asking a person to be unnatural. Unless you are asking him to change in terms of “Give up crime” or something like that, changing someone is unnecessary. It is rather an unpleasant experiment that more than always yields unfavorable results. And the irony is, if the experiment is successful, then what? You cannot freeze the person at that. That’s it, this is exactly I wanted you to be, now don’t change. That is impractical. Nobody can “Keep the change”. Because, change is permanent; it is a continuous process. And it is true. So if anything, focus on loving your love, the way it is. And follow it along the way. The only change we need is that one in us, where we unconditionally love someone, and mean it. Loving or admiring a person, throughout its never-ending and rather continuous metamorphosis, is an experience of a lifetime. It makes you a better person. However, you always have the right to kick someone out, who doesn’t fit well in your definitions anymore. That is fine. Expecting someone to change, and then keep the change, that is not.

It sure feels different, but it sure ain’t strange

The rule is written, what’s permanent is change.

Curtain Calls

September 21, 2009

I had an argument, and there I was, sitting alone in the living room. A lot of thoughts were crossing my mind, a scene like a crowded mall on a Saturday evening. I was partially introspecting, partially holding the other party responsible for the unpleasant turn of events. But I knew this ain't the first time this is happening. Definitely not the last, settlement isn't reached when either of the party storms out of the discussion. All the yelling, the pin-pointing, the naming names and throwing incidents in each other's face, we were both battered soldiers from a war. And how truly so, a war going on for ages, with neither side winning, rather both losing it. I sat lowly in the chair, by the open window, and watched. Watched slowly as the evening darkened further into the night, as the lights started glowing till the horizon, and as a chilly wind blew on the broken walls of morals, fallen pillars of self respect, and countless shattered pieces of a love that refuses to die.

And with the wind, I saw the curtain moving in various forms. Reciprocating flowingly to the subtle romance that the breeze offered. It caught my attention, as if it intended to. And as I looked on, I realized how much I felt alienated from my surroundings. Whoever said, fight or flight, I personally feel, it is fight & flight. When things don't go your way, when you don't achieve your goal after numerous fights on the same issue, you just want to run away. And hide. You want to leave that "you" which is part of these fights. You know, you are responsible. You just won't admit it. In the process, you make the innocent mistake into a hideous crime. And then you flee. I imagined, a world behind that flowing curtain. A place, secluded from this not so perfect, always crowded world. A personal space. It felt like a kid, to just run and hide myself behind the curtain, and rejoice in a world that my mind wanted me to believe, existed. A world where I was not a jerk, where I didn't make silly mistakes and then harbored ego, enough to destroy my love, and my real, imperfect world.

So I did. I went and stood behind the curtain. It somehow felt like a complete change of view. It was like looking at the same scene from a different side. I thought what has changed here, at the back of the curtain, that I am willing to look at the issue from the other way round? Why am I now willing to accept my mistake, and come out a changed person? And silly as it may sound, it occurred to me, that we are used to change behind close curtains. Aren't we? Just as the literal "changing" in public is rather incomprehensible, we cannot change our personality when the world is watching. We cannot accept defeat, admit we are wrong face-to-face. We do that on the phone, a message, or a quick visit to the adjacent room. We need that split second span of time, to change. To remove the mask of ego, of anger, and wear the one of compassion and innocence, and we all know, that without our masks, just us, are ugly beings. Who cannot even face ourselves. So every time I want to change, I know, that the curtain calls.

The whole life is a fall,

When we stop, is when we die.

The Godfather

Revenge is a dish that tastes the best, when served cold....My tribute, Godfather

The grapes ain’t sour, the grapes just ain’t ours

29^th June, 2009

It’s an old time story. But I think it is good enough for kids, exclusively. Because, after facing so many sour grapes, I can say this with definite confidence, that many a time in life, the grapes ain’t as much sour, as much as they ain’t ours. And what is not ours cannot be taken. If we live by this rule (not exclusively, like nothing in life can be) I don’t think we can ever be “stuck” under the disguise of perseverance. And we will also avoid adultery.

I believe in reciprocation. It is not give and take, it is not barter nor is it tit for tat. Reciprocation, where you can give without expecting anything in return, and still, you end up getting a lot yourself. The more you give, the more you get. I believe if you tickle someone, that person should laugh. That’s reciprocation. It’s a two way system, which doesn’t need inputs necessarily from both the parties, but still you know that two people are playing the game. I hit the ball across the net; somebody has to hit the ball back to me, ideally. Now if the other player is not bothered to hit the ball back, then that doesn’t imply that the ball is a sour grape now, does it?

If I tickle someone he should laugh: it is debatable, say the person doesn’t want to laugh. But you will know that. And you will know if there is reciprocation or no. Coz it can be felt and it definitely cannot be faked. It cannot be shown, it cannot be hidden. That’s what makes it unadulterated. And it is the best way to say you care, best way to mean it.

The whole point of debate here is, you cannot just keep jumping for the grapes. If the grapes have any intention of being with us, they will come to us, a little atleast. Not half way, not completely, but a slight movement somewhere, in our direction and not away, to show us that it wants to be with us. that is why I insist, that reciprocation is felt wihtout the other person doing much at all. You know when it is there. I say, jump for the grapes who are willing to be yours. For others, jump once, jump twice, that's enough and nice. We have a lot of grapes, and a very short span of life.

A series of Unfortunate events

18^th May, 2009

Machines / appliances / inanimate objects that won’t work bloody piss me off. I just can’t tolerate the fact, that here I am, spending time and effort to make a machine work (which is not working properly). Aren’t machines designed to ease our efforts? Then what’s the point. And off late, I think all the machines are targeting me, like how dogs would team up against someone who hails stones at them every day. At this moment of time, my job!, my car, my desktop computer, bulbs in my house, taps, the latch on the door, my cell phone charger are not working. They simply aren’t. Now, it is too much of a coincidence that all of these not working at once. Imagine my frustration, I am almost balding. But if you ask me, it’s really a matter of replacing old parts with new ones, a little usual maintenance & repair and that’s it, it will be all fixed. I am just too lazy.

However, among these series of unfortunate incidents, I realized something very shocking about myself. I always believe, that being the prime beings on this planet, the whole universe always works in sync with us. I will see the world, as I make it to be. Especially the environment I live in – my home. I make my home what it is. So I asked myself, that what is my house trying to tell me here (I do go overboard), with all these things going wrong at once? And I saw the pattern. All the things that were bugging me are just not doing what they are meant to do / be. They aren’t fulfilling their purpose. The tap won’t shut, the door won’t lock, and the tires puncture too often, desktop crashes every week, and I have no work at my “work” place. And I see all these things are pointing to me, coz they are mere my reflection. I realized that what bugs me is these stupid inanimate machines are showing me my own reality, my own reflection. They are telling me that how today I stand a failure (not literally, figuratively) at so many things / roles in my own life - things that are expected of me and other things, which are my duties and responsibilities. I have neglected so many, and thus must be driving others mad with frustration, just like these machines are driving me crazy. And I am human. I must fulfill my duties & responsibilities to be mad at others who don’t. I must fulfill them for the happiness & comfort of my dear ones. And I have been blatantly ignoring all and having a ball.

Lesson learnt. But I am still the same. Along with all the above things (that I still haven’t repaired) I continue status quo (haven’t repaired my-‘self’ yet). However, strange person that I am, one thing out of all this makes me happy - that I am putting life around me, in the things that I use, and in the house that I stay. It’s a nice feeling to know, that I have created my own universe, and I can proudly announce, that yes, it also has a “Quality Check” which works round the clock, to make sure that the best of me walks out of that house every day, day by day. I have got the system in place, but I will still like to call it WIP. I see hope and I like not being hopeless.

Moral: I like to believe that this is how it is. Coz that makes me at least think about being a better person (not that I am worst, Continuous Improvement is what I am talking about). This is how I condition my mind, and try to make best of things that happen around me. There are so many situations, when something goes wrong and we find somebody else to blame. Yes, there are indeed some occasions when you have somebody else to blame. But if you think about it, you are the root of everything that happens in your life. I am not saying take the blame on yourself, no. I am saying take the onus on you. So when anything happens in my life, happy or sad, I just focus on self. I ask myself, that have I done everything that I could? Am I missing out somewhere? Because I have happily realized long time back, the only thing that I can change in this universe is MYSELF. Once I do that, I change my universe automatically. But whatever has to happen has to initiate in me and from me. That is how it is. And realizing this partially reduces my frustration when things / people around me won’t work. I at least gather satisfaction in the fact that I have done what I could, and I move on.

There is a sign in anything & everything around us, if we start reading.

I choose to read & believe anything that makes me even slightly better.