Comfortably Numb

Every afternoon after lunch, at work, I take a stroll through the campus. A 5 minute stroll which is very pleasant given the kind of campus I work out of. Once, I noticed there were a bunch of guys who were standing in the shade and having a casual discussion and seemed to be enjoying it. As I got closer I could see, one of them dished out a handful of mint candies and handed one over to each of them. All of them in a swift move opened the wrapper and threw the candy into their mouth and in a follow-through; with precision of a Federrer back-hand dumped the wrapper into the lawn. These were well educated, over-paid executives who just did that. And this, when there are dustbins all around the campus!

But I did nothing. I walked past them and came back to my desk. I do that often when I come to think of it. I walk away from what seemingly is wrong, small or big. I just get along with my life. Roads are messy, politicians are crooks, office is political, busses are rickety, drivers are arrogant, prices are rising, drains are clogged, hotter days, traffic is slower, shop keepers are ruder, bomb blasts are a routine… and still my life just goes on. The plane crashed, a bomb blast took a train apart, a full family dies on the way to meet an ailing relative, a seasoned driver and a very charitable & helpful person dies of a small mistake – took his seat belt off while on a highway… I am still in status quo.

I feel the pain when I hear all this… from a wrapper shot into the lawn to the state of mind of a 4 yr old boy who has lost every one from his family in one shot. I feel scared. I feel worried, thinking life could be so short. But the strangest thing is, I feel numb.

I feel numb, and a song comes back to me time and again…

The child is grown.
The dream is gone.
And I have become,
Comfortably Numb

1828 Days

1828 Days. That’s how long I have been - Associate # 157725.

I saw a cartoon which speaks about Brussels sprouts in a burger. They are too big to be counted with junior peas and too small to be around the senior cabbages. That’s exactly how I feel right now.

Strange that the cartoonist chose peas & cabbages. I always hated both.

As I said, it’s been 1828 days since I have been Associate # 157725. That’s all it means in an office. It can easily be replaced or substituted. The individual, never really gets to come out in the realm. I am at a cross road right now. Should I continue to be a number in a huge list, or find my own identity?

I don’t have an answer. If you find one, lemme know.

The Political Soap

I was a little saddened with the IPL drawing to a close…it was a routine for me. Getting back from office, landing directly on the bean bag and watching which ever match was being played… it did not matter who was playing whom. And like all good things it had to come to an end. Left a huge void in the 8 to 1130 PM slot…What do I do when I get back home?

I am not particularly a fan of Soaps… the saas bahu types. But I chanced upon the Political Soaps that run in the news channels nowadays. The twists and plots that they brew up is absolutely original and gives you a rush most often than not. Every week our news channels diligently take issues and blow the hell out of its proportions. Then there is this ‘tamasha’ they call debate. One of the main news readers would take the lead and shoot seemingly uncomfortable questions. This, interestingly, will be very comfortably fended off by ‘spoke persons’ from different political circus troops.

I am not politically inclined…probably a little inclined away. Nor does any of the politicians of today inspire me. You must be wondering why on earth did I stop at a news channel while zooming away towards VH1. To be frank, some of the news readers are very good looking, the women that is. And I mean it in a very good way. Yeah, you got my point…

A typical evening show begins with the news reader picking out, an unnoticed incident otherwise, and placing it in front of us. He invites people who are I think paid for these visits, and initiates the debate. Another intriguing aspect is the audience poll on these issues. They read out the results at the end of the show and there are people, who have actually sent in the SMS, I would like to meet one of them. Some have live tweeting during the program too…just in case you wanted to speak your mind!

I am not politically inclined. And I don’t know if any of those debates makes any sense. The guys who hurl at each other, all the filth they can lay their hands on, don’t have any commitment to the topic of their own. They are spokes persons. The wag the way they have been asked to. Another interesting aspect to these soaps is that, you don’t have to put up with ‘elastic’ scripts which are stretched across several weeks. The issues that are picked up are not debated for more than a week, to keep the interest levels high, I suppose. A lesson for the less evolved Soap directors. May be they should get some news houses to do their scripts.

I think a disclaimer is valid here…I am not rubbishing all the politicians and all of news readers. But the incompetent ones out-number the good ones by a huge margin that even the law of averages at times is a failure here…

Again, I am not politically inclined. I watch it for the sheer fun. Have some fun listening to the debate. The victory of ruling government over opposition on some day and the other way around the next. Get some sleep after that, while the news house finishes the payments for their performances…and set out looking for a new ‘real’ issue

The Bonding Agent

The best way to get along with someone is to find out whom they hate… People love the ones who hate whom they hate…

I am not saying this off the hook, I have experienced it. More often than not people bond, pretty strongly at that, over things they love to hate. “Have you seen the way she acts around that boy? She is such a *****!” And an unbreakable bond is born.
The other day, I happen to meet up with my friends. I was noticing how my wife was getting along with one friend of mine in particular. The girls were giggling unstoppably and they were even sharing starters and drinks! To many it might sound very ordinary, but men would understand why that is so weird. I was curious, how my wife, who is a slow starter, was getting along with this specific person so well… This thought kept me awake…not in the nights, just the afternoons

Slowly it dawned upon me. The two of them I knew for a fact hated one of our common friends. The mention of her name sent the eyebrows to form the customary arches and the giggles follow.

We love to hate and we love who can hate whom we hate… When I come to think of it, a common reason to hate might actually be the biggest bonding agents. It works for people – men, women, even children.

A: I hate carrots!
B: I hate carrots too… I dunno how someone can eat them. You know what else I hate, cabbage!
A: Oh! tell me about it.

Somewhere down the line of this conversation, you can be pretty sure the discussion would get very personal and they may even share facebook and twitter ids. So that they can keep in touch and talk about things they hate.

The bottom line – you wanna bond with someone…look for what they hate. It’s foolproof. And just for the record… I hate eggplant.

Something’s gotta be wrong!

Something’s gotta be wrong!
Over the years there is this one truth that has become clearer in front of me than anything else… something’s gotta be wrong! You can call me pessimist, but I think this is a highly probable scenario in all our lives.

I did very well in my school, except for one math paper, the final exam. I did everything right while playing tennis, except for the first lot I picked for the league matches, picked the defending champion. I did everything right in my job, except being the one with the loudest voice when the big opening came up. I can go on…and I am sure when you read this, it does ring some cords right in your mind as well…Now I would not want to chicken out calling it luck or fate. I think that’s the way life is. Something’s gotta be wrong.

No matter what ever you have, if that tiny little thing goes wrong, it still tastes a little less than success. That drives some to do better, and some to sit down and blame someone else. I am not having that drive…but I aint gonna blame anyone either.

I read, which let me tell you is a rare occasion… about Styx, the river. And it struck a string in my mind, little different from what the myth is all about… Styx is the river we are all in, all the goodness on one bank and the painful experience on the other…we have got to swim on or choose to drown…

Maybe that’s why I always trust the moderate. Living a moderate life is not about living an average life, but being ready for that one thing that would go wrong.

Cos, no matter what you say, something’s gotta be wrong.