Follow up advice (5 things - Week 44)

People always say that the toughest thing to do in any field is to get an opening - have the first hit, if I may use that term. But from my personal experience, the toughest thing is to handle your first flop. We have had instances of so many one hit wonders that I don't feel a specific need to create a detailed list of it. If you need one, let us take the example of this blog itself.

I wouldn't call it a one hit wonder now, but there was a time when I was afraid to write the next post because people appreciated the last one. I put upon myself such unnecessary pressures that I shrunk away from my writing. I know that that in itself is crazy, but you know me na.

And I'm pretty sure this is the case with most of the things in the world. If you are putting yourself under the scrutiny of the public's eye, you'll be forced to perform at 110%. Always. And unless you are a superhuman being, it is impossible to perform at such a high standard. And even the superhuman beings we know and adore, have come up with their fare share of duds.

Again, coming back to the case of this blog, I've been warned and advised a number of times that writing every week is suicide - that people will find most of the posts to be stale, and whatever good post that I would write in between would go unnoticed. And they have.

But do know why I still write weekly?? It's because if I don't write weekly, I would lapse back to my old habit of not writing at all, as I wouldn't want to bring forth unworthy posts into this world. The only reason that I'm writing good posts here is because I'm writing every week.

So, again from my personal experience, if I had to give you one advice this week, it would be this. If you love doing something, keep trying without fearing for the result. It might be awesome, it might be sh*t. But all that matters is that you did something you love.

***

Talking about things I love to do, one of my favorite pass times is to give advice - ask any of my friends. I won't say that each and every one of these said advices have resulted in the concerned person benefiting from it, but the successes are more than the failures. For this week, I'll be recounting five special advices that I've given and have been given to me.

1. Then, my friend said "Throw this bottle at him."

And I did. And that bottle hit 'him' in the eye. And he had to be taken to the hospital. Luckily for him, and me, there wasn't any serious damage. He had to take a week's rest with that eye, and it would come back to normal. Well, the eye did get back to normal, but our friendship didn't. That day in 8th standard was the last time I remember talking to my then best friend. It was never the same, with acquaintancial smiles and uncomfortable silences being the only thing we shared afterwards. All because I took this advice from someone as I chased my then best friend through the class for some now inconsequential remark he had made then.

2. "I think you should break it up with him/her."

This little sentence have been used by me a million times - well, maybe not a million times, but still frequently enough to make it feel like so. And I've to say, it has worked wonders. Wonders as in how stubborn people can be when they think they are in love. Deprived of the balanced evaluation a third party can offer, they, more often than not, ignore this advice. So you can't blame them, since anyone in such a situation will ignore this advice. The end result is they end up heartbroken, and I've to give the next advice.

3. "You should forget about him/her. He/she was never good for you."

This is often delivered with a hint of "Told you so.". But this is one of the worst situation you can be in. You are happy at being proven right, but it is your friend who is sitting in front of you heartbroken. And so begins the healing process - the fifth stage of love.

*There are seven stages of love. It's a post I'm working on. Hopefully, it'll be seeing daylight soon.

4. Said my friend to me, "You look like him and the storyline matches too. You should make a video like this."

The actor was Salim Kumar and the video in question was 'Palavattam' by Vineeth Srinivasan and co. A casual remark was taken at the face value of an advice and the video 'Pinneyum Palavattam' was born. The story behind it has been recounted here already. The video is given below.

5. The last one would be "Ignore what he's saying. If you want to reply to him, send it to me and get it out of your system."

Not the best advice I've given, considering I had to hear an earful for somebody else's action, but still it had to be done. Two of my good friends were having a very public war of words on an online forum, and this was the only way I could find to stop them from humiliating themselves in front of the public. Like I said, not the best advice from me.

***

And so, just to let you know, I'm here in case you need any advice.

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

Salute (5 things - Week 43)

In less than 30 hours, we'll all be waking up to the 64th year of being a Republic Nation. Even though most of us are guilty of exhibiting our patriotism only on such special occasions, I personally believe that it is the evidence of the fact that the present generation can be arsed to make a contribution to the nation, if and when an situation arises.

And on that note, we shall head onto this week's post.

***

1. This happened when I was in school, maybe when I was in 10th or so. We were on the way back in our school bus, and for some odd reason, we were playing a game of quiz. Again, for some reason, I happened to ask a 9th standard kid when India got it's independence. Such a simple question you might think, but wait till you hear what he replied - '26th January, 1947'.

We have had comedians mix up numbers and dates to force a joke out of a stale situation, but this kid was serious when he said that. And on that note, I would like us all, myself included to go to wikipedia, search for India, and read these things. I'm not questioning your knowledge of the basics, but I just want us all to reinforce them, so that we may never have to face such an embarrassing situation.

2. This happened two week back. I went to a cinema hall to watch a recently released film. It wasn't houseful or anything - just enough people for it to be called a crowd. Anyways, I was pleasently surprised to see the following video being shown before the screening of the movie.

I recommend that you watch that video at least once. For those of you unwilling to spare the time, that video shows a school assembly 'singing' the National Anthem. The speciality is that the kids are mute, and they use sign language to perform the anthem. To say the least, it moves you.

Back to the theatre, the crowd got up, and respected the national anthem. It was a heart warming experience, which I hoped to be a part of again. And that brings us to the movie I went to see today.

It has been running houseful since it was released, and I had to wait so long to get a ticket. Even though I wasn't disappointed by the movie, I was more than a little put off by the fact that they didn't show the anthem. I hope that they start doing so soon.

3. The one video that my generation grew up watching and singing, from the Mozart of Madras himself.

But I can't stop recommending this video. Watch this, even if you already done so once.

4. An Independence day experience from a fellow blogger - '१५ अगस्त'. It is in Hindi, so please excuse us if you find it hard to read and/or comprehend.

5. Now, this may not be something you find in a normal post about being patriotic about India, but then again I've always maintained a minimum level of absurdity and craziness. And so, I'm going to talk about Pakistan in this post about India. And that too in a positive way.

A news garnered much attention a few weeks back when a boy in Pakistan, stopped a suicide bomber from blowing up his school - even though he had to lay down his life. He knew that if the bomber was allowed to proceed, then the number of casualties would be very high. Since something had to be done quickly, he went to stop him by himself, in spite of the repeated requests of his friends to alert the authorities, and not to risk his life.

I wish that if such a situation ever arose in front of me, I would have the courage like him to do what he did. And I wish that it be the same for each and every one of us.

***

So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and gals, go out and celebrate.

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

Putting on and filling out (5 things - Week 42)

August 2013

There was this factory outlet near our office that we always wanted to go to. And so finally, after months of dilly dallying, Nishanth and myself found ourselves inside a John Players showroom. I had already decided that I wouldn't buy anything, since my wardrobe was full, from stuff I bought five years ago. [Yes, I can't stop using my old clothes. Yes, I can't bring myself to let them go either. But that is a whole another story.]

Coming back to the one we are in right now, Nishanth was confused on deciding between which two of the three chosen shirts he would buy. It was then that the shopping assistant told us that we could get the whole thing for half their price, if we were to buy a fourth garment. Nishanth didn't want to buy more than three shirts. He didn't want to look like a nouveau riche on a shopping spree. He looked at me with pleading eyes. Now, you would think that this is where I would relent and buy something stupid just to make up the numbers. Sorry to disappoint you though, but this was not one of the many times when I went as an advisor to a shopper, and ended up spending more than him/her.

Anyway, Nishanth ended up trying on a formal pant to go with the shirts. And that is when an unwelcome truth hit him. Over the two and a half years that he had spent at Gurgaon, he had gone up two pant sizes. And like any good friend, I made sure that I would remind him of that fact whenever we met for the whole of next week.

And during that week, I was both happy and sad, knowing that I had never had a situation like that. I was sad that I had become stuck at a weight of around 65 kgs for the past 10 years in my life. I was happy that I could eat anything without the guilt of putting on weight. And it stayed like that. Until last Wednesday.

***

15th January, 2014

I was getting ready to go out. And I thought about giving my jeans a break, and to use the formal pants. I hadn't used them since I left work early last month. So, I got them out and tried them on. And to my horror, I found that I could barely make the button hold- which meant only one thing. I GREW!!!

While before I failed to fill about one inch of the waist size in my size 32 formal pants, currently I'm finding it difficult to envelope myself in those same constraints. I guess one full month of proper meals three times a day, interspersed with a multitude of snacks, have finally forced my fat repelling body to be not so fat repellent. A pleasant and cool weather, broken only by the occasional rains, have helped in keeping me rooted to my seat.

All these and much more, have helped the onset of what must be that phase of my life, when I'll finally begin to grow laterally. Wish me luck!!!

***

1. When I was born, I weighed nearly 4.5kg - pretty heavy for a baby. And in over two and a half decades, I was only able to expand it by a factor of 14.44 times. Don't bother reaching for your calculator, it comes out to about 65 kgs. And I'm yet to gather the courage to go to near a weighing machine. I'm afraid it'll show 65 kgs even now.

2. Some of my relatives are claiming that the said increase in weight is all down to the fact that I'm more at peace with myself now, since I've moved back to my hometown.

3. The fact that I don't exercise much these days must also have played a huge role in securing the services of these flabs of fat for my body. Please don't get me wrong. It was not like I used to exercise an hour everyday. But these days the most physical work that I do is moving around the house. Coincidently, most of these movements are my trips for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacking etc etc. So you can guess how much calories that effectively burns.

4. This whole scene is a throwback to the onset of puberty for me. I'm discovering something new with my body. No, not that you naughty one. I was talking about finding these flabs of fat. It is like when I was 14 and found stubs of hair on my face and I thought, 'Finally, I can have my own moustache and beard'. It is a similar dream come true now - but of non-skinny arms and less prominent cheek bones.

5. Last, but not the least, I would like to thank my parents for the sincere efforts they have been putting in to make this happen finally.

***

So the next time you meet me, don't forget to ask if I've put on weight.

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

Missing the past (5 things - Week 41)

Another week passes me by, and I still haven't got to writing those specials I promised you. I won't say I'm swamped by the schedule I 've here, but it'll take some adjusting to. The most different thing I've to do after coming here has been attending weddings - those of my relatives, those of my family acquaintances, and those of my friends.

The latter getting married is something I'm not able to comprehend. The basic consensus of the school alumni meet a few weeks before was that we all had aged only physically. Our mental age, and maturity levels, were still on the same levels when we had left the campus some 7 years before.

So, I wish all the best to those souls who are embarking on this monumental journey, and I hope they find someone compatible with them to share the joys and sorrows along the way.

The said school reunion was also the cause of much reminiscing of the old memories. One thing led to another, and I wound up thinking of all the things that I miss from my Delhi life. I made the jump from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram, with the notion that the grass is always greener on the other side. On arriving here, these are the things I feel are greener on the side that I was on.

1. If SALARY doesn't top the list of someone in my situation, then there's something wrong with him. So, salary comes up as the first and foremost thing I miss about my life from Delhi. Now tell me who wouldn't miss the steady inflow of cash at the end of the month. And until I can find that here - instead of this post-sale payment that I'm on right now - I'll not be cured of this missing.

2. Everybody has friends everywhere. So, I can't say I miss my FRIENDS from Delhi as such. But what I miss is the company I used to have. While I had a friends group of late 20s and early 30s over there, here my immediate company is my parents, my grandmother, my cousin and her 2 year old son. As you can see, I have gone from a group of like minded individuals, to a situation where I would have to modulate my thoughts and speech to suit each person. So, I'm currently on the search for a group of like minded, similarly aged people here in my city, and I'm close to finding it.

3. Living in a metro city, you get used to the culture and life of it. I will say that I miss the METROCITY LIFE, but I won't say that I would like to have it in my city.

4. If there is one thing I wish my city had that Delhi has, it has to be the METRO. They say you miss it only when you loose it, and it is so true in this case. In Delhi, metro is something that is one with the city. For someone, who has been there for long, it doesn't stick out for the technical marvel that it is. And seeing the choked roads of my city, I wish it had its own metro. The metro alone might not solve the problem of choked roads, but it'll make the commute so much better.

5. The WINTER. Now, you would think that I'm mad to miss the winter - which is performing a continual decrease in mercury levels with each passing year. But I do miss the winter - in a good way. I miss it, like someone would miss burning in hell. I'm just happy that I've a chance to miss it.

***

***

There is nothing to say in the epilogue. I've had the fortune to complete my first project after arriving here. Hopefully, the 'client' will like it, and it'll lead to more such projects coming my way. So, pray for me.

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.

Call me CRAZY and let me be (5 things - Week 40)

Uhh...

Where do we begin??

Ermm... Yes.. Of course.. Let me just wish you a (belated) Happy New Year. I hope that great things find you this year. And when/if they don't, I hope you have it in you go out and find them.

So... Now what?

Well, last week's blog post got a comment from a dear friend of mine that this blog has "matured" over the year. I keep matured in quotes as it is, generally, a relative term - mainly, because by the time my next post comes around, I would have reverted back to my immature levels (that post should be out in three days!!).

Coming back to the topic of maturity, in the days gone by, if a person showed signs of having maturity as well as immaturiy, he would have been labeled crazy. Nowadays, you just call them "Bipolar". If you have a friend you can't avoid couting the number of steps on a stair/arranging a playlist in its order, you say that they suffer from Obssesive Compulsive Disorder.

For the want of a better subject, I'm just going to list off five such "disorders" that have afflicted the current generation.

1. Mysophobia - Fear of germs. To be put it correctly, an almost irrational fear of germs. I've a friend like this. He wouldn't have you within one feet of him, if he could. He'll involuntarily back away if you sneeze. He'll kick you out of his house if you say that your friend at office has a fever - like I said, it's an irrational fear.

2. OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Like I've already mentioned before, having a keener, persistent sense to establish order in this chaotic world is now being termed as such.

3. Social Anxiety disorder - Again, another fancy term for something which you easily have called 'introversion'.

4. Bipolar disorder - I believe that the Schrodinger's cat was responsible for the creation of this term. Until then, having the faculty to be able to be at two states at the same time was a one way ticket to the mental asylum. It still is, but get a cool name for being so.

5. Selective Mutism - Before it became selective mutism, the ability of a normal person to lose his faculty of speech in certain situations/in front of certain people used to be called "Stage fear"/"Shyness".

Selective Mutism at its humourous best!!

***

These are fancy terms, brought out by people who are afraid to call a crazy person a crazy person. And I hate them - not just the terms, but the people also.

I've an uncomfortably large number of friends who take pride in being called crazy. You could say that the biggest compliment you could give to him/her, is to just call him crazy. Not in public, mind you. But if there's one thing we would like you to do more than that, then that would be to stop trying to change us.

So, my dear friends, call me CRAZY and let me be.

***

Well, that's it for this week.

You all have a great weekend.

'til next week.