20060927

Lateral Thinking...

Today I had a chance to put one of those few grey cells at work.

If I can't get myself to a Kulfi at 9 in the night, I sure can make a Kulfi come to me.

Pats himself on the back...

Great job dude...

20060921

Ladies evening out...

Shopping with ladies can be quite interesting. It takes a lot of patience, knowledge and of course, the moolah to get things going.

Had an evening out with two of the few interesting women in my life. We were out looking for a sari for one of them. Boy. It's one difficult thing to quickly hear a convinced YES from a woman who is out shopping (I'm no chauvinist. This is pure experience).

And to speak of the barrage of information that you have to deal with. There are at least a zillion different types, patterns, colors, price ranges... You name it. There's banarsi, kancheepuram, chiffon, silk, satin, Georgia or something... And more...

To add to the confusion, there's jari made, patterned weaves, embroidered, contrast border, self border, but no Allan Border.

Look at us men. Life's as simple as that. Go to an outlet. Pick what you like. Pay. Leave.

Simple.

20060920

The sound of music...

Listening to music has always been one of those things I have called a hobby. Frankly, I have never really had a hobby. I realize that music to me, is more than just about hearing songs and humming them around.

My attachment to music began while I was around 12 or 13. When I was introduced to the concept of non-film music. I remember an incident when a cousin of mine had purchased some albums and I had innocently asked him which movie it was. He had snapped back saying: "It's an album, not a movie. You won't understand this."

My cousin did not know that he had just gotten me hooked to a music genre called POP. Beginning there, I slowly migrated from Indi-Pop to English music. At one point in time, this song Everybody by the Back Street Boys was a hot favorite (I could call it the first English song I heard, liked and remembered). The transition from pop to rock to metal was inevitable.

Now why am I talking about all this? Well, coz I wanna talk about the music that I really relate to. More specifically, in the recent past, there have been songs that have had me so captivated with their lyrics that I almost began to believe that the lyricist of the band was referring to me.

Bryan Adams, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit are those bands that have held me with their lyrics for a long time now. While I related to Bryan Adams's lyrics when I was in a light, or say romantic like mood, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park have almays, through their lyrics, provided me with an expression for my frustration, my anger, my pain and at times, my hatred.

There are these 3 songs that have been permanently etched in my mind because of their lyrics, the way they have been sung and what they mean to me. Here goes a few lines from these songs that reflect exactly what I have felt:


Linkin Park - Numb

I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless lost under the surface
Don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

...
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

And I know
I may end up failing too
...


Linkin Park - Faint

I am a little bit of loneliness a little bit of disregard
Handful of complaints but I can’t help the fact that everyone can see these scars
I am what I want you to want what I want you to feel
But it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you, to just believe this is real
So I let go, watching you, turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I got

I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored

I am a little bit insecure a little unconfident
Cause you don't understand I do what I can but sometimes I don't make sense
I am what you never wanna say but I've never had a doubt
It's like no matter what I do I can't convince you for once just to hear me out
So I let go watching you turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got

I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored


Limp Bizkit - Boiler (The best of them all)

Looks like I'm gonna do everything myself
Maybe I could use some help, but hell,
You want something done right, you gotta do it yourself
Maybe life is up and down but my life's been (what?)
Till now I crawled up your butt somehow and that's when things got turned around

I used to be alive
Now I feel pathetic and now I get it
What's done is done you just leave it alone and don't regret it
But sometimes, some things turn into dumb things
And that's when you put your foot down.

Why did I have to go and meet somebody like you? (like you)
Why did you have to go and hurt somebody like me? (like me)
How could you do somebody like that? (like that)
Hope you know that I'm never coming back (never coming back)

...

Depending on you is done, giving to you is done
No more eating, no sleeping, no living, it's all just more giving to you and I'm done
Depending on you is done, giving to you is done
No more eating, no sleeping, no living, it's all just more giving to you and I'm done
The hiding from you is done, the lying from you is done
No more eating, no more sleeping, no living, it's all just more giving to you and I'm done

...

Why did I have to meet somebody like you?
Why did you have to hurt somebody like me?
How could you do somebody like that?
I hope you know that I'm never coming back
Why? Why? Why?

20060914

Of needs and wants...

I remember having a discussion with a loved one about Needs and Wants.

What started out with my explaining the marketing definitions of Needs and Wants (Yes, I'm a student of Marketing) turned out to be a conversation full of discovery, of the self, of our states of mind, of our needs and our wants.

My understanding of these is as follows:

Needs are those "requirements" which just have to be met. A need is from the deep inside of one's self and cannot be replaced or eliminated. For instance, hunger & thirst are physical needs, love and companionship are emotional needs, and so on...

Wants are those "options" that are available to us to satisfy those needs. For instance, Hunger could be satisfied by a sandwich or a burger, or pasta or plain old curd rice. What one chooses among these available options is a want. Going by this definition, a want can be replaced, modified or even eliminated depending on various factors like availability, cost etc...


{I know the Merovingian is gonna correct me on this one - I love it when he does}

When I looked back at myself through this discussion that I had, there was a phase in my life where I had only needs and hardly any wants. I mean, there was a few things I needed to survive with , and anything would just do. I was so intent on giving away everything. Somewhere at the back of my mind and in the bottom of my heart, I knew I had nothing to lose, I had nothing at all.

Then came a phase where I was made to understand that I was not living life to the fullest and there was so much to see, so much to feel, so much to look forward to. I started giving a little importance to my wants (read as - became a little selfish, started thinking about myself) and in a way I started developing for myself, a small set of wants to satisfy a small set of needs around a core - Myself.

Now, at this day, I see myself weakened, by having given into my wants, by choosing to be satisfied only by a specific set of options. I never once, did foresee these options not being available to me. Not once did I feel, that I may have to look out of other options should the one I have not be there. And yes, reality does slap you in the face. Hard.

So then, I see myself one again at the crossroads of choice, at the brink of a turnaround, good or bad, I won't judge, but definitely important. What I choose to do with myself will decide upon what my future has for me.

I will choose, I will survive. For I do not believe in succumbing to my wants. I must admit, I feel choked, unable to breathe, unable to give up my most precious possession. But then, what good is it to hold on to something/someone as your own, and no let the world have it, when it is only fair to share.

I see the need to give up on my wants (I know this sounds crazy - but this is meant only for those who will understand). I feel the need to give up, on the wants beyond which I have chosen not to see. I see myself wanting to look beyond, almost needing to, rather "having" to.

Then, I tell myself, it's a conscious choice I will have to make, and stick to. For I want to live, happily, I need to.

I will.
No matter what.
No matter how.
No matter why.

For those who think they have understood what I have written, THANK YOU. For those who have not, I have just one thing to say - Never Mind.

20060904

Dead & Re-born

I do not believe in the concept of re-birth or past birth...

But then, if I assumed for just one moment that I did beleive in this

I would only wonder what I must do now...

Note: This is not a random thought.

Disclaimer...

I hope this post will set things straight as far as my dislike for the word Human goes:

I do not have a problem with the biologically homosapient creature that walks, rides, drives, sails and flies through a major portion of this planet...

I just have a sincere dislike for the manipulative use of the word where it is used in describing, justifying and legitimizing one's follies and prevents one from taking ownership of one's actions and the consequences thereof...

20060902

Apologies

Apologies just don't work...

In fact, apologies suck... What good is an apology when the damage has already been done... An apology never brought back the dead... an apology did not bring happiness ... and an apology certainly did nothing about the pain...

All an apology did, was to make the victim accept the truth, make one accept the fact that nothing will be done to reverse what happened... In fact, nothing CAN be done...

To me, an apology only feels like one human pleading for just being so HUMAN. So that he could have another chance... at being human again... Punishment is a must... Forgiveness is the best...

I feel lonely, and stuck,in a pit,
blood and bodies everywhere...
bodies of those, who made mistakes, and apologized...
bodies of those, who will never learn or understand...
bodies of those, whose victim I was, am and will be...
I choose to forgive them all... They are all, just so human...

They say : To err is human, to forgive is divine...

To forgive and NOT forget... is me.

Nothing will be forgotten... Nothing...