Gag bag

This is one thing I dread a lot. At the moment I am all excited and always ready to do anything that I wish, thanks to the youth in me. But I hear this and I hear this a lot. I see it around too. That as you go on getting older, you somehow somewhere lose the excitement or the zeal which otherwise you had in you. Why is this so? Is this applicable to all? I have seen the best of the best giving into this pressure of ageing. And though at times it makes sense, I somehow don’t want to accept it. It just doesn’t make sense. Why should I give up on this one life I have, though I have had the knowledge that I will be getting older and older right from the start?
I have seen people giving up on the best of their days to something they call responsibility. I mean I agree. Now a days life has become so hectic, that an addition to your responsibilities in the form of maybe family or work can really suck the vigor out of you. You aren’t as excited as you would have been for maybe a picnic or a movie or even a simple dinner. Things start to seem monotonous and boring. They seem sundry, as though you have been redoing them all throughout your life. Why is this so?
Now I have no clue what life has in store for me. But I always consider myself as something different. Not someone great (well ya, sometimes that too. :-)) but still. I don’t know. I think I will or rather I should never be giving up on my way of life. Work, responsibilities are always there. But getting bogged down under them somehow shows your defeat in front of them. I think we need to overcome them and still have so much passion left in us that we always find time to do the things we like. Well not exactly all things. But the things which you find you really miss. Atleast those. For instance as college kids, we have had the best lives. And each person says that those were the golden years. Then why can we live that way for over? Ofcourse I don’t mean to say that you go on hitting on girls all your life, or waste your time on your college katta. But there were many things which made your college life awesome. The freedom! The lack of tensions. The feeling that you are the best. Why not relive that? Why not postpone that stupid mind numbing tension by one day. And just relax for a day? Go off on a weekend. Not every vacation has to last a fortnight or so. You can have that weekend getaway. And then just chill out and relax so much so that you are all fresh and renewed for the so called stupid life. Go off on an expensive dinner. Maybe catch a movie. Go play a game of badminton. Talk with your old friends; call them up, send a forward, just the way you did back then in college. Joke a little; go back to being a kid again for a day. Have a nice long shower/bath. It will soothe you to an extent that you only dream about. Having fun doesn’t always have to be planned. It can be instinctive. And those are the best kinds. Cause the fun comes all of a sudden and goes off just as quickly. Its short span means it leaves with many memories to relish. And gives you a peace of mind like none before. I think in today’s world with so many pressures, we do need this getaway. And many don’t realize that not exploring this side of you does you more harm than good. We are animals after all. And it’s necessary we enjoy the fruits of the life we have.
In any case, I think I won’t give in to this responsibility by giving up my life. It’s a sad option. Rather it’s good to give yourself and your family a good time. You will love it, they will love it. And you can keep the spice in your life on an all time high forever. I think we aren’t meant to live in tension and nervousness. And we shouldn’t. Just a call to the new generation. Cause they can surely second me on this. Let’s live life like there always is something new to look forward to, like every new day will bring along something exciting. This way, we can help ourselves a lot by being happy and satisfied and thereby resolving many problems on their own. For me, the only tagline that fits here is, I want to be a kid forever. :-)

I saw this movie the other day, and it spread the most amazing feeling in me! Wonderful movie and top notch acting from both the leads! Awesome!

This led to thoughts in me, and there is this one song, namely Khumari chaddh ke utar gayi, which has the most amazing lyrics. In general Ghazals have a wonderful meaning to them, and they are explained in the most simplest of the forms, but this song in particular always gives me a wonderful feeling!

The best part in it is:

Logon ko aksar dekha hai
ghar ke liye rote hue,
ham toh magar beghar hi rahe
gharwalon ke hote hue.
Aaya apna nazar nahi,
apni jahaa tak nazar gayi...

and

Pehle toh ham sun lete the,
shor mein bhi shehnaaiya.
ab toh hamko lagti hai,
bheed mein bhi tanhaaiya.
jeene ki hasrat kidhar gayi,
dil ki kali bikhar gayi...


Wonderful meaning trapped in short and sweet sentences! This isn't a very well known song from Jagjit Singh, nonetheless its my favourite! And yes, the music is just apt. Its from the movie Umar, which has a good score in general (Ok, I just wanted to use the word score.. :P )

I was on this trip to Diveagar this weekend. And along the drive I experienced how someone so very strange, unknown can be so close just for the time-being. Ok, before you start judging and making up your own stories, let’s get to the fact.

On our way back, we took up the Tamhini Ghat road for Pune. We started at 5:30pm, and it being the winter season, it was quite obvious that we would be driving in the night time mostly. The tamhini ghat is as such dangerous, as there are no lights, and no villages on the way across the whole ghat region. So once you start, for the next 2 hrs, forget coming across a place to rest, take a break, fill petrol, get help and so on. Not even a light snack is possible. All along the road, there was hardly any car, and the darkness and the starry sky and the cold breeze were adding to the eeriness.

Cruising along, I came across a Tavera which was going in the same direction as ours, and at this time, I found a good friend in him. I followed it continuously, for want of someone to be leading me in the dark and curvy road, with no road signs to guide. Intrinsically we both were keeping the distance between us such that we don’t lose each other, without having to tell this to one another. After a while, he signaled to me to lead him, and I gladly took up the position to lead kindly light. It felt nice to help and be helped. And it is true that we never will meet each other, never might come across each other. We never did meet each other too that day as well, but for those 2hrs, it felt as if we were the best of friends on our way to a picnic. Sometimes you find people in the most strangest of all places, and they become the sole factor for enduring through that time. Some say this is what life is, I say this is Vasudhaivva Kutumbakamm, the motto of Symbiosis.

Well, just wondered. What do you do if you are in an area where you don't want to be seen? Do you stay still where you are? Or do you keep moving?

Hmmm. I think you should keep moving! This I can say, only because I have heard that if you want to be found (when you are lost), then it is said that you stay still where you are! That helps in easier and faster search.

Don't know. Can this be proved mathematically? Statistically? Just a musing...

Kill me, kill me now,
You bang your fist and get up.
You hate everything, everyone,
You hate the lunch, the same old tea cup.
You hate the screen, the keyboard, the mouse
Which you can't live without while in your house.
The easy chair, which you so adore,
Suddenly doesn’t seem that easy anymore.

You came here, on your own.
Priding yourself, you were so very sure.
You awed the magnanimity, everything looked so perfect.
Your joy was beyond measure, and so so pure.
But all that vanished,
All the promises were suddenly hollow.
You feel cheated, is this what you had thought?
You know very well though, this is what you asked for, and that is what you got.

You don’t understand, you just stare.
You want to pity yourself, you want someone to feel your plight,
You feel no one understands you, that there
is no one who can now set things right.
You feel only you are going through this torture
That only you are being fired at from all around.
You feel its only you who is gagged,
And the only one who is bound.

Look around dear,
You will see a hundred thousand more of you,
All of them caught up in the same jam,
In the same mess which you are into.
They are stupid not to complain!
They are crazy not to protest!
But the moment you get that paycheck,
You forget all the rest.

Why not learn to enjoy the other things in life,
Than crib over the ones you can't change.
Why not fix things which are in your reach,
Than try going for something out of your range?
You have got everything you wanted,
A great family, good friends,
You have the strength to find openings,
In even the most horrifying of dead-ends.

You have experienced victories like none other,
You have achieved that which others only dream.
You are the candy of every eye, the envy of every mind,
Your life is a birthday cake, with lots of extra cream.
For a perfect life, there isn’t much more,
And internally you know it too!
All you lack is a little strength to face it,
Or rather, the strength to accept it.

Life can't be all that goody goody.
It has to be a bit bumpy too.
After all how can you feel the soft petal,
If a thorn has never pricked you.
There is the day always awaiting,
After the darkest of the night.
When Mr. Bachchan said “Need ka nirman fir fir, neh ka awhan fir fir”.
Didn’t we all praise him for being so very right?

Pride yourself for having so much.
Hope for more, yearn for more.
Strive towards it, achieve it.
You know you can and you will, for you always have.
Feel yourself to be lucky,
Things for you have always been safe and warm and nice.
There are millions others who will give up anything,
To be in your place, to be you, without thinking twice.

Take it easy kid, relax!
Leave your worries for tomorrow.
Take rest today, smile, laugh, help and get helped.
For you know, that there is joy after every sorrow.
Forget the tensions, the pressures and the deadlines!
They are here to come and go.
Enjoy the small things when they are here,
That smile makes your face radiate brighter than the sun you know!

I have had this thought many a times. Well, as we know, I rant on it many a times. But I find it very hard to fathom, that with the new demands that the companies ask of from their employees now, there is no one at home to take care of the kids. And personally, I find it very wrong, cause there should be someone, and that too someone from home itself, who should be raising the kid, rather than have baby sitters to do the same.

We can't expect the child to grow up and be instilled with qualities and characters similar to us if we play no part in its upbringing. And that is very wrong, cause be it however you are, I think everyone wants to raise and spoil their baby in a very personalized way. And the new world as such knows this, accepts this, but does nothing in order to solve it!

The society should change. New norms must be put forth. The work hours should be reduced, or atleast adjusted so that at a time, there is atleast one parent taking care of the baby, of one another. The increase in the divorces, the spoilt children isn’t just a coincidence. It’s a direct effect of the entire corporate blow up we experience now a days. Everyone feels about it, everyone knows its wrong, but no one does a thing about it. This directly leads to the woman in the house giving up her job, her dream in order to fulfill her other dream. Isn’t that wrong? Should the father not have a equal role to play? Is money earning the only job he has to complete, with everything else left to the mother?

There are ways to counter this, even in the current scenario. And I think for this, there should be growth in the minds of the father (or the male ego). One of the great things about a woman is the maturity she shows as she grows and feels that the family is her responsibility. There should be a similar growth among boys, to feel for their family, to help out in activities and to make everyone feel that well besides just the money, there are a lot of ways in which one can make the household feel more homely.

The thing getting lost in all this is the time people can give to one another. After working from 9 to 7, I don’t think any sane person can expect to come home all fresh and then cook up the best meal in the life, have the best movie played on TV and watch it, and then go to sleep early to get up early again. This is mere fantasy. There is a lot to housework than just cooking, and there is a sense of realization that should come up within the individual that well, as much as I am tired, I have to help at home too, because this isn’t a one persons job.

Another thing to realize is that well, since we don’t get time for another, why not spend time doing chores together. It is faster, more fun, and easier and leads to work getting completed too. The worst scene to see is the husband coming home, changing, and putting on the TV, sitting there, relaxing while his wife is busy making arrangements. Then he eats, finishes with some anger from the company being thrown about casually on the family members, and then get up. Leave. And log on to the internet, make a few calls under the pretext of work. Well ya, all that is important too, but think of all the things you are putting at stake while doing all this.

It’s difficult to cope up with the tension. And the obvious way to come out with it is anger. As much as it is right, one must not forget that all this is the same thing going on with the other person too! And instead of resolving things with anger, there are many better ways to calm you off, cool yourself down than this.

Well, not much use after ranting on endlessly. But all I want to say is as we are advancing on all fronts; one of the major short-comings has been growth on the male side. And it is this which atleast boys need to work on. We call ourselves forward, we call ourselves that we are improving with the days needs, but are we really?

I have had this gut feeling,
something surely isn't right.
The world no longer reacts,
the way it did last night.

I fail to find fragrance,
in a flower that attracts every bee.
Even the touch-me-not shieded away,
when I just went to see.

What is wrong, what has changed?
I wonder.
Did I hurt someone, do I deserve this,
Is all I can ponder.

I hate myself, I hate everything around.
I try to cope up with this mess,
by getting angry, breaking a few things.
But everything is the same, more or less.

Sometime ago, when all was fine,
there was this brightness all around.
Now even the loudest shout from me,
fails to create any sound.

Whom do I run to for shelter?
On whose door should I knock on?
The smiling greeting faces a few days back,
even they have their curtains on.

Involve me in something.
Talk to me, shout at me, hit me!
I will prefer all those over,
these poisoned darts aimed at me.

With hope that all will be fine,
I lay down on my bed.
If this is what I have to endure the next day,
I think I would prefer being dead.