My Blue Speck

For years, I have thought that Music would make a good religion. But there possibly are more kinds of music than there are religions. So basically, music would just become another way of dividing us into more groups, which is exactly the opposite of what a good religion should be.

Also, I don’t hate, or feel even the slightest level of dislike towards any religion. But when it comes to music… there are a few, so-called-artists, towards whom I feel great hatred. Actually, not towards them, just their music. And I am definitely not pleasant when I’m forced to listen to it. Quite a few of my like-minded friends also feel the same way.

So perhaps music is best left as what it is, just music, almost whatever you want it to be. It makes you cry, it makes you smile, tap your feet, dance along, groove to it. It is a tool, a medium, a release, a prayer, perhaps even a  place you can call home.

Personally, I prefer music in it’s “purer” form, as just music, minus the words and all. It almost seems like cheating. You were supposed to express whatever you were feeling through only music, yet you chose to put in “subtitles” in the form of lyrics. Which is why I prefer songs by Joe Satriani, and lately even classical music, both Indian and Western.

Love Thing (Joe Satriani) speaks to me in ways that no words ever can. The music of Nothing Else Matters (Metallica) just grips me and takes me to a different place. To be honest, I’ve never even tried to think about what the lyrics mean! Our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, another song who’s lyrics elude me, has this haunting tune that, for some reason, just makes me feel immensely sad. Perhaps Tagore got it wrong, because, I think that a National Anthem should sound happy and cheerful. It should make you feel proud of your country, while reminding you of her past. Something like Waving Flag  (K’naan), would be my suggestion.

Pirates, a Kung Fu fighting Panda, Living Cars, Fast Cars, a hangover, the last of wizards and witches, more mutants humans and if I may, my blog. Yes, this is indeed the year of the sequels. Which basically means that movie maker have run out of new ideas and movie goers just want more of what they already like, and don’t care much for whatever new flicks are thorwn their way.

April 2009, was when I wrote my last post. Over 2 years! Surprisingly, in those 2  years, I got married, bought a house, switched jobs, and I’m sure I must’ve lost more hair… And yet, I didn’t feel like writing about anything. Or maybe I did feel like  writing, but couldn’t, or didn’t.

I now realize that my not writing, I’ve lost a part of me. I don’t know what it is, but something’s missing. So I’m going to write.. a lot! About anything and everything on this blue speck. I’m just gonna sit at my laptop, stare out or my window, and just write… Maybe I’ll try that Dissociative writing thing. Who know what’ll come out of me. Complete rubbish, most likely, but maybe I’ll find what I’ve lost, whatever it is.

No there is no hocus pocus involved in what I’m writing here. No ancient myths, no crystal balls, no magic at all.

Just an idea for a machine that can predict the future. Imagine a small empty room with no doors, no windows, and all the walls and the roof and the ceilng are exactly the same. The normal laws of gravity apply and the only thing in that room is a ball.

Let us assume that this ball starts bouncing. Given the exact velocity and weight of the ball one will be able to predict the exact path of the ball and it’s final resting place. Behold I give you a basic crystal ball which let’s you preside the future. Keep adding more balls and complicate the room by adding windows, furniture, doors etc and you’ll probably need a computer crystal ball now.

Now imagine if the room was the earth, and there was a ball representing everyone and everything. If we had a computer capable of tracking everything I’m sure it would be able to predict the future with great accuracy!!

Yes… my blog has a new look… I’ve upgraded from Blogger to WordPress… So, in the words of the immortal, and all-wise Homer Simpson…”Woooohooooo !!!”

Now I own and host everything that I write !!!!!

A sleepless night followed by a long day at work, a terrible drive back home, and every other imaginable thing to take your day from bad to worse. We’ve all had more than our fair share of those. Bad days are quite common these days, given the kind of lives we live. And meeting a person who’s been having a bad day only makes it worse. It spreads like wild fire. From one body to another, and sometime we end up doing something that we regret for a long long time… I don’t need to quote examples here, we’ll all been there and have done that….

Enter Paradigm Shift. In that single sentence the sweet old man made my day and ensured that I was smiling all the way back home and for the rest of the day, which is more than anything that anyone could have done for anyone after a bad day . That man obviously hadn’t set up that lil clinic to make money. He genuinely wanted to help people. And I’d like to believe he was more than a doctor, he was… he is a healer. He definitely healed me that day. Thank you sir. If only the world had more people like you…

I hate to inform everyone that I won’t be writing any more blogs…. till around 15th of November that is …

In a freak accident I managed to destroy my modem and now I have no way of going online while at home, and I can’t be caught blogging while I’m at work… So laterz…

A lot has changed ever since I was first introduced to my first television set. Although I can’t actually remember the first time I saw a TV, so as far as I’m concerned it has been there all along… just like the trees and the sun and the stars… An interesting phenomenon that came from television was the concept of intervals, a slot fueling the programmes that we get to watch… time for ads, for the channel to let us know what else it has in store for us.

In a way people’s lives have started revolving around these intervals… They have been for quite some time… It’s around 8ish in the evening and somewhere a mother (fathers too now) is busy preparing a meal, trying to fight against the clock, ensuring that she doesn’t have to go leave the table once the family sits down for the meal. The clock strikes 8, the family has gathered at the table, the television is on and their favourite family show offering the best of people singing, crying, back-stabbing, or whatever…

Talking is now forbidden, and nobody moves until the first 10 or 15 minutes are over and it is time for a break…. The countdown begins… Everyone scurries about heading for the kitchen or the bathroom or wherever they wanted to go… It won’t be long before the programme will resume and order will be restored… It’s like a game of musical chairs, only there is no music… it is only the television. And come to think of it, the advertisers / channel programmers are the controllers… but it isn’t all bad, cuz everyones a winner….

Also, when watching a long movies… intervals aren’t so bad… they let you stretch your legs, relieve yourself, get munchines etc etc…. However, they can prove to be quite irritating and annoying when watching a suspense filled murder mystery and the intervals appear at all the right times…

But thanks to the technological advancements, over the past few years I have added quite a few movies and TV Series to my collections. You can now go out and buy entire seasons of your favourite programmes and go through 10-20 episodes in a single day!! And at the end of the day you’d realize… “What a terrible waste of time!!! I could’ve done so much. If only there were intervals!!” So in a way, I miss those intervals and intermissions…. They allowed me to do so much more with my time… I mean, I do enjoy watching ads too ( I have too ) but intervals will always be time-management tools to me ….

The title of the post is not what it is cuz I cudn’t come up with something better. It’s called “No Topic” because it’s about nothing. It’s about nothing cuz I have nothing to write about. And that, is a very very strange phenomenon. Almost a month ago I when I was in India, I had several things to write about, but ever since I came here I seem to be drawing a blank.

I’ve been in Scotland for over a week and haven’t touched a drop of anything alcoholic, or anything cold for that matter. In fact, I haven’t had any coffee either. I love coffee ! I used to have 3-4 mugs of coffee on any given day. Many of my friends back home go “Tsk Tsk Tsk”. Yeah, so my being unwell was a large factor contributing towards my restraint, however, I feel good. I’ve been out of college for 5 years now and I refuse to look at alcohol as some kind of a party game. I never was a drunkard or anything, I just enjoyed drinking. No pressure, no emotions, just a few drinks every once in a while, though not too often, and that’s it.

But I can see that drinking has become, or is becoming a problem with most of my friends, who simply cannot seem to do without it. Over the past few months, my drinking has gone down significantly. A person who cannot hold down over half a bottle of whisky, or refuses to drink, is considered “unmanly”. Of course, the experts deciding this, are on the the better side of the other half of the bottle. What does drinking alcohol have to do with being a man? I know women who can drink more than a few pitchers and then walk back home like nothing ever happened. What does that make them?

Being a man, is not about pulling off foolish stunts, it’s not about guzzling down booze, or stuffing food down your throat… Genetically, men are stronger than women. Does that give men the right to take advantage of women on the streets? Some “men” seem to think so. I heard in some movie, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” In my book, any man who takes advantage of anyone weaker than him is hardly worthy of being called a man, and such a specimen should be caught and publicly castrated.

Perhaps the punishment is a little too harsh, but it is every man’s duty and responsibility to protect the people around him. Children, the elderly, even innocent animals and women. Especially women. It shames me to see the number of crimes committed on women by men. Many a times I wish that one such man would cross my path. I would set such an example that… Anyways, I’m not trying to promote violence, however, when a man forgoes one of the purposes of his existence, then he must be made an example of.

So I say this… A man, is one who protects those around him, and treats them with great respect. A man is one who is aware of his powers and his capabilities, and everyday, consciously chooses to use them for the benefit of others. A man is one who sees and understands the pain of others and does everything he can to rid the person of it. A man, is a protector of all that he stands for. So where the hell does drinking and smoking come into the picture? Those are just masks, for cowards to hide behind. Not that drinking is bad.. , but to think that it makes you man, is a cowardly act… So go ahead… Be a Man, a real Man !!!

Every day after I reach my office, after I park my car, I take a few steps across a wet road and climb up a few soaked steps to reach a door that will take me to the reception from where I head towards my bay. During this short journey, I always see a Janitor busy mopping the floors. Meet Raju Cleaner. I can’t help but feel incredibly guilty for Raju. For some reason my company has decided to not use doormats for my particular building, forcing me, and several others to walk in without wiping / drying off our feet.

The timing factor here, is simply remarkable. Every time the poor Raju takes a moment to admire his work, a meeting would finish, or it would be lunch time, or time for a cup of coffee or it could just be a group of people who come running in, all drenched and soaked from the rains. All of them probably causing our dear Raju to hate himself, his life, his job and just everything under the sun.

Yet, perhaps keeping in mind his family, and the hungry bellies that his measly salary will feed, he shruggs away the hatred and starts over. Every time, every day, through-out the year, year after year. Munna Bhai MBBS suggested the Jaadu ki Jhappi, but would it really work in real life? I feel terrible walking over a freshly mopped floor. Yet, I must. I’m not brave enough to go give a jaadu ki jhappi to Raju, or any of his colleagues, but I do kind of apologize, or at least wear a guilty look on my face. I try to rid my shoes of as much water as I possibly can on the cold, hard surface before trespassing over Raju’s recently completed and well-done job.

I can’t do much, but I’d like to believe that wearing a look of guilt on my face, apologizing and ensuring that Raju sees me making an effort to dry off my shoes makes a difference. Maybe he won’t hate me as much. Maybe he won’t hate himself so much knowing that there are people who care and who appreciate him and his work. Thank you Raju, for making my blue speck a much cleaner place to live in. And thank you Munna Bhai for opening our eyes.