The Lost World

Something is lost. Something is definitely lost. And most probably, forever. Of late, have watched something or the other, which has reminded me of our past. I would say, our past because it is about our childhood, our adolescence, our society as a whole. The late 80s and the whole of 90s. The nation we were.

A song from a recent movie had started it. When I watched the song, it took me back to the 90s. It is shot in Delhi. Somehow the city has always fascinated me. The song ends in the perfect way – in the wee hours of Delhi. I just love Delhi mornings!

Anyways, this is not the point. The point is, it took me back in time. At least 15 years! Things were so different then. There were no mobile phones, no internet, not even cable connection – well for most of us! Still, we managed to communicate well, loved watching TV. Thanks to our parents, had timely and good meals. After school, took a nap, went out to play, met friends, watched TV, and tried studying too. There was a routine - but not boring.

Well, routine is still there. Dragging self to office, cursing the traffic, cursing the city, promising self to get up earlier next day to avoid the traffic, some work and more bitching in office, returning back – again cursing the traffic, and the city, reaching home with a heavy head, checking out maid’s regular food, having dinner while watching a South-Indian-movie-dubbed-in-Hindi and then ending the day with gmail, and facebook if time permits. So, routine is still there!

I may have digressed a little. The problem is not exactly with the routine. Many daily battles were lost in those times too as they are today. The problem is that the simplicity and innocence of life is lost. No, it’s just not a loss for me. It’s a little more than just a phase in every man’s life. Our kids would be living more on facebook than in the real world. For example, there would no more be cult series like Ramayan, Mahabharat, He-Man, Jungle Book, Rangoli, Flop Show or Vyomkesh Bakshi. Anyways, TV is out of question any which ways. The idiot box content has taken a beating, in the last decade, more than the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The technology, along with its affordability, has increased a hundred times but the quality of content has deteriorated in equal terms. For that matter, radio has definitely improved. Though we miss Ameen Sayani but Jeeturaaj is not bad either for the Radio Mirchi generation.

Coming back to topic. Another movie which we watched later, completely took us back to our childhood. The reference is in plural as a couple of friends felt the same. The first half is good enough to go the theatre. The movie is set in a village in Punjab. No, I am from Lucknow. Never been to Punjab. Been to a village once but hated it. But the movie is shot in a manner that we felt the chill of the North Indian winters, smelt the Earth, loved the vapors rising from cold water, missed the inter-connected terraces of those row houses, and was part of a big family union. Co-incidentally, the movie is set in the backdrop of Indo-Pak friction. Hence, it runs through the decade of 90s. Movie has a stupid storyline but it did make me miss my city, my childhood and above all – the innocence of life – which it was!

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A funny thought that crossed my mind just now. In those days, good movies used to hit 50 weeks in theatres. Now, in the multiplex era, such movies hit the television screen in less than 50 days.

The dead man wore pyjamas

These days I am reading ‘Like the flowing river’ by Paulo Coelho. It is a collection of short stories and articles of the writer. One of them teaches a lesson which I felt like sharing.

A man was found dead in his pyjamas by a construction company in a building which was about to be demolished. Next to him lay a newspaper dated 20th February 1984. Same day was marked on the calendar on a table nearby.

The man lay there for 20 years!

And no one noticed his absence.

His company officials didn’t care to find about him as the company closed down soon after the man shifted to this building. He did this just after getting divorced. As he was under huge debt his friends thought that he had run away. Whatever be the reason nobody, simply nobody got curious about his sudden disappearance. Not even his ex-wife!

Nothing can be worse than the feeling that no one, absolutely no one, cares about us. The writer thanks the man for making him think how important friends are. I thank the writer for making me realize the same.

Random Thoughts

A few thoughts have been flowing through my head for a while now but were never penned down. So thought of putting them all down here otherwise they would never turn into individual blogs forever.

On my return journey from Hyderabad when the train stopped at a small station, I suddenly felt like getting down there and explore the place. It was open field with a lot of greenery. May be someday I, with my gang of course, would go on a wild journey like this. Time is running out.

***

Since the time I have started working the unit of time has become a week as every Monday morning I think about the coming weekend. And from Tuesday onwards the countdown starts – 4 days left. This is a negative signal as time is running at a much faster pace now. I should be enjoying each day of my life. Something is missing.

***

The Mumbai team for IPL was named Mumbai Indians. How ironical – a team from a city where a few leaders talk about throwing out people who do not belong to the state – is termed Indian. Actually it’s a truly cosmopolitan city but I wonder why such incidents weren’t condemned enough by the local voice.

We, the people

I am amazed to see Behenji taking up the reigns of UP. I am unable to believe that people can vote for her. But then I realize it’s our fault. People like me, the ones who are well educated, don’t vote. I have criticized people for not voting and I don’t understand the reason of their apathy. But then even I don’t have Voter’s Id. Card when I was eligible to have it 9 years ago.

I have realized that it’s our laziness – to stand in a queue for a day to vote for our leader. I always thought that once I become 18 I would cast my vote without fail. But till now I haven’t taken the pain to get a Voter’s Id. Card.

The people who vote are mostly the illiterate ones (or the less educated) who get influenced by these clever politicians. They get lured by promises which are based on caste, religion, and other short term objectives. Now why to blame these people if we can’t take up the responsibility to vote for the right person. Instead, the Election Day is used as just another holiday. And since we don’t vote, we should not complain against the government when it does not perform. It’s not our government in the first place!

It is easy to criticize the politicians but then what do we do to remove them or put the right ones in place. Rang De Basanti talks about joining politics, police, army, etc. to clean up the system. Well that would require too much motivation and courage. Let us first become a responsible citizen. To start with, let’s vote!

What do you think?

Mohe Rang De Basanti .......

Tumhaari Maa ki Aankh!.....

I love this dialogue ;-) I watched some part of RDB for nth time today. And again I felt a rush of blood while watching 3 people getting hanged for their country. How could a few people be so selfless? How could they not worry about their own identity and devote their whole life (rather youth) for a cause which is not personal. It needs guts.

I can go on writing on this topic and this movie but I will stop here as I have an exam tomorrow.
May be I will write something more sometime later.
Keep the blogs flowing.
Luv PS

Namonishaan...... rahe na rahe .......

Logic & Emotions

This blog was also written sometime back. I felt that it was incomplete so didn’t publish it. But now I am getting impatient to publish this one in response to a forum. Although I can’t add much to it - may be because I am not in that pensive mood. Also Spirit asked me to give more food for thought so the incompleteness of the blog will give such an opportunity to the readers ;-)

So read on… Here it is.

Ok this one is going to be a real complex one since it relates to the mess in my head. A few days back I had a very interesting discussion with a very close friend of mine about the power of reading others, about thinking logically and not emotionally. Sometime back I thought I am an emotional fool but after discussion with him and knowing his experiences I think I was wrong. I am not one. Why?

He feels he has lost his emotions just because he thinks logically and can anticipate the actions of others. Here lies the catch. When you anticipate too much you become defensive. After that discussion I have not been able to resist myself from using this sixth sense. Believe me, life becomes hell! You don’t behave naturally. You keep calculating each move of yours to match the moves of others. I would explain this with an analogy. We know that there are billions of bacteria around us. Just imagine if we could see them. Would we be able to inhale? Think…..

But why do we think so much? Is it because we feel insecure?

I feel emotions give hope. If I thought logically I should not have any hope left by now. May be this is the reason they have started stressing on EQ more than IQ ;-) But again too much of emotion can also destroy.

Loving....... oneself

Procrastination Sucks! I guess the name I have chosen for myself as a blogger suits me perfectly. I wrote this blog long time back after I wasn’t able to sleep the whole night. But I am posting it today without much of an editing :-) This is PS for you. Enjoy !

It’s very easy to hate life, hate self but very difficult to love both.
It’s very difficult to face our inefficiencies and fight against our self. We curse ourselves for our inefficiencies and feel that since we have punished ourselves we have paid the penalty. Maybe this is the reason why I keep cursing myself. I feel instead of cursing myself I should try to reform myself.
I think I am not that lazy to work hard but too lazy to apply my brains. When I say I am not intelligent I am actually shying away from using my brains. When we curse ourselves we actually sympathize with ourselves. It’s an escapist attitude. Ok … got it. May be this is the reason why I underestimate myself. Hating oneself is running away from the challenge of life.
Love yourself PS.
I hope I learn something from my own blog.

“One who knows others is intelligent; one who knows self is enlightened.”

July 1

Hey! It’s July 1. This is the date on which our 1st year PGDBM course started. Actually today DS and I went to the insti to return books which I got issued for two months. As usual I was returning them without taking the pain to read them. I maintained my record! And as usual I will be returning them with a fine as library was closed by the time we reached there. I also have a record of returning books with fine. And I am good at maintaining these silly records. Since we went to the insti at dinner time we decided to have Khichdi (yes man its July 1. its free now !). Even I didn’t notice the date today. I realized it when I offered 20 bucks to Md. Bhai Part 2 and he refused to accept it.
Flash! July 1, 2005. Azikari started the day. He narrated an episode from Ramayan or Mahabharat (I don’t remember). It was 10-15 min narration in Sankrit which he kept translating in English. All of it went over my head. I did enjoy his first few classes. Only to realize later that he is Azikari after all. :D
Coming back to present. After having my dinner I got the opportunity to observe the new lot (read juniors). I always have a good feeling whenever I see them. A whole new bunch of people - meeting for the first time, making friends, exchanging phone nos., forming groups, being polite, speaking English, i.e. being formal, trying to be as smart as possible. he he …. I look back. At myself and people around me. We were behaving in the same fashion. I also observed few other things which I will keep to myself. Sometimes we feel we are smart. But we are not. I laughed at myself! ;)
Hey Spirit! It’s amazing when you can read line of thought of other people. ;)

Luv PS