Two worlds

On the way to our team outing we went to see an unfinished house belonging to a colleague. The beautiful villa amidst many others cost him tons of money. His logic of investing a fortune in the house made sense. He wanted to move away from the madness of the city and stay in a gated community which had secured places for his son to play. The villa was exactly what he wanted. Although I cannot afford the house today it didn’t stop me from imagining what it would be to own such a big and beautiful house. With that thought I left the place.

On my way back from office I stopped to collect my clothes from the ironing lady. I saw Shruti, the lady's daughter crying hysterically. On inquiring I got to know that Shruti wanted to go and play in the nearby park but her mother wanted her to fold the ironed clothes. The lady was running behind schedule in delivering her daily orders. Nevertheless Shruti was not relenting and was busy sulking and crying in the corner. Unable to help either of them I left.

My thoughts earlier in the day came flooding back. On one side I knew a person who was buying a house with playgrounds et al. for his son to have a secured playing experience. On another side was a mother who couldn't let her kid play in a municipal park because she needed help to complete her work which would earn them their dinner. We sure live in a divided world! By the time I slept I was too thankful for all that I had.

...and the famine continues

I sometimes wonder what's wrong with me. I have come to this place so often wanting to blog about something that instigated me or made me exuberant. I can still see those writings in drafts but as has happened with most of my blogs they just stay there, never seeing the light of the public domain. And I don't think they ever will! Instinct made me write some things but on second thoughts I never actually published them, partly because they seemed too personal and partly because they were about people who would probably get offended......hoping this famine ends soon and I can conjure up a narrative worth sharing…Amen to that!

Emotion vs. Logic

As a colleague flirted with a near pink-slip like situation at office and was getting all emotional about it I remember telling the person to take things logically and not attach emotions to the situation. As the person cried, everyone seconded my advice to the person - get practical. We all love to be logical to the most emotional situations. It left me wondering.... why?

Is it really possible to be not attached to your everyday activities/people? I mean your work, your colleagues, etc....shouldn't they always matter? How can one work when one is not involved? It’s human to get attached, then why the pride in being indifferent? I guess because most of us have learnt the hard way that emotions are wasted with the members of our creed. It’s better to score a point logically than applying any emotional sense to it and losing the argument. Another possibility of why we are generally scared of getting emotional is the fear that the feeling might not be reciprocated. Oh what a humiliation if you are emotional and the person in front is logical, isn’t it? With this thought we are being more cowards than logical ....or so I think.

In all this emotion vs. logic debate, I am still on the latter’s side. But I do know what I am missing and I guess that’s a solace in itself!

A sarcastic rebuke!

Walking on a busy road , I was following 2 men, when suddenly one of them missed his balance and bumped into the other one

The man who bumped (Man 1): I am sorry.
Man 2: Acha hain. Dhakka deneka , phir sorry bolneka. (What man! first you bump into me and then just say sorry)
Man 1: Toh kya apni property tere naam karu kya? (What else do you expect? Should I name you my heir?)

I burst out involuntarily and disappeared before I hurt or pampered any egos ;)

A teary act!

 As I flipped thru the many reality shows available on Indian television I was amazed at the creativity displayed by the contestants. The singers were amazing, the dancers at times were better than our so called film superstars and the jokes in the standups, way better than the comedy films that they dole out these days. But as soon as the contestants start speaking about their personal lives I cringe and switch the channel. My mom adores the crybabies on stage and I am usually reprimanded for being insensitive. 

I am amazed at the way our television creates hoopla, its either thru voyeurism or thru the sad stories of participants. And it’s even more amazing to see the urban population hooked onto series where all they do is utter the 'f' word, display their brattish behavior, or put forth their sad stories; all in the name of being honest. Pick up any show, KBC included; tell me one of them which doesn't try to cash onto the sorry-state of the participants. The participants narrate the sorry state of their lives and the host/ess gets all set to wipe out the tears and bring a smile in their battered lives. And the participant, just after a hug from the celebrity is all set to face the tribulations of life. I wonder what else? What's the next thing that will increase the TRP of the show because I am sure with the tears flowing at the drop of a hat in every other show they need to come up with something else now, something more touching .

No, I am not saying everyone there is lying but I just don’t see a way to distinguish the true ones from the fake ones. I have become a cynic enough to feel that all of them are fake. Maybe honesty is just no longer an appreciated virtue. People often break down under pressure but on our television they break down for a few extra votes. Maybe a win will really solve their problems; well if it does, then I think the easiest way to a win is to garner the sympathies of the voters rather than improving their capabilities.

Maybe times are really changing! For everything and anything all you need to do now is put up an act...the more the volume of tears, the better it sells!

:)

Some realizations and the emotions that they bring along require lot of solitude...perhaps a little too much :)

Being Different

This happened on a visit to one of the many malls in Banglore. It was afternoon and I was standing bored in a queue to be served by a very famous restaurant chain. I overheard a lady ordering a full course meal for her kid. I looked at the kid. By no means would he have finished that amount of food. I wondered if she did it out of ignorance or apathy. Ironically, just outside the mall there was this huge settlement of people who probably lived a hand to mouth existence and would have been surprised at our lack of discipline while ordering and throwing away food.

As I stood with these thoughts and disillusioned in general, there came a family which asked the attendant to pack their remaining food in a container. The attendant frowned at having to do something out of his way, for he was better off serving people rather than packing left overs for some nutty customer. The man(probably the father) politely requested him to pack it so that they could go back home and finish the meal later, rather than throwing it in the dump  which would have been sheer wastage. The stern and confident request made the attendant do as was asked. I smiled and so did many others. I could sense the man was probably a high flying executive by his mannerisms but what was more endearing was that he had his basics right.

It reimposed my faith in the belief that charity begins at home. To change the world you need to first change yourself. That man, who, inspite of his economic stature knew the value of food, would leave a rich legacy for his kids. A legacy that is not materialistic but yet far more treasurable! People like this remind me of the inherent capabilities of the brash and the insensitive generation …yeah that's us  :)