The Manhunt Is On …

There I was having a nice conversation over coffee at Mochas when suddenly out of the blue, my friends decided that we should all get married on January 2009. Lest your imaginations run wild, let me state that we were not planning on a wild orgy or a Draupadi copycat, but generally about the fact that we would get married on the same date to our respective sweethearts on the same day.

We worked out the cost per family, discussed on the venue, menu, the riti riwazases
to be followed etc etc etc. We also decided that now would be a good time to inform
our families about it so that they can start their planning well, really well in advance.

Now that all is planned, I have decided to start planning accordingly. Planning is nowadays my favourite word courtesy my friend Ashish who likes to plan everything, but somehow never manages to do so. To get back to it, I have started ‘planning’ for January 2009. There are a lot of things to do. First in the list is finding a guy to get married to. Now don’t get me wrong I do meet lots of guys but they are either too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, too serious, too crazy, too unambitious, too ambitious, too sensitive, too insensitive, too cynical or too optimistic to suit my taste. C’mon guys haven’t you heard of moderation??? Be a little of everything achcha hai…

Coming back to it I am now on a hunt for Mr Right, well he doesn’t exactly have to be Mr Right but he should at least be more than a Mr Ok. The trouble is all the good guys are already taken, guess I started on this search too late in life. Now if you are looking for a point to this article, there really isn’t one, it’s just something I am writing coz I am taking a break from work. But hey if there is a guy around, what the hell, there is no harm trying your luck is there?

Now I am a fervent believer in the ‘when the right guy comes along I’ll know dictum’, so if any of you are interested in applying for the Mr Right post, you can stand in the stations between Mahim and Churchgate -- when I see u ill know. Your deadline is December 2008. The rest, if you know a good psychiatrist post his name and number on this blog, after re-reading this article I think I am in severe need of one. J

female bashing!

i had always heard that women are extremely harsh on their own gender. i realised how true that is, a few days back, when my group was having a discussion about the beauty and sensuality of women we know in common and the female stars of the world. to my surprise the pretty females in my group had hardly anything good to say about the looks of the creed. now my logic is that pretty woman always have a thing against other pretty women. its simple actually, pretty women see other pretty women as something of a intruder in their territory which they obviously are determined to protect. or maybe its just a competitive streak u know the ‘uski sari meri sari se safed kaise’ types.

what is perhaps the most amazing part is the excuses they give for disliking women, she’s pretty but in a dumb sort of a way, she has a good body but the face of a horse, she’s not sexy she looks like a you know what etc etc etc

i for one think that the ingenuity of the female race is just amazing. yeah I belong to that race too, but since I am not in the competition zone of pretty/sexy/attractive women I am not bothered much about it.

Now you may say that this piece is just an excuse for bitching about other women or a fishing hole for compliments… but heck this is my space so what the hell, so be it!!!!

The all famous rut

Every day people tell me, and I say it back to them, that “my life is stuck in a rut!” if you think of life as a product, then ‘the rut’ is perhaps the greatest brand ever invented. Nobody wants it, yet everybody has it in their lives. And it has phenomenal brand loyalty. It sticks to u throughout lives.

Look at it this way, as an infant all you do is eat, sleep and poop. That’s what you do all day for at least the first couple of years of your life. Life in a rut. Later, you go to school, hang out with friends, go back home, pitter patter with folks, hang out with friends and go back to school the next morning. This rut stays with you for 15-16 years of life, depending upon how much you study. Then comes the next rut, you start working – “now my life is really gonna be different”, you say. Think again… it’s just another rut. You work the whole goddamn day and then you go home. If you have any friends left, you hang out with them and then you go home. Now life’s back on a rut again.

I met a guy that day. His life is cool. He’s job entails a lot of travelling, partying and meeting new people. “Now that’s what I call a life”, I said to myself, “at least he’s not on the same rut”. But surprise, surprise --- he says his life is on a rut too!!!! Because that’s what he does every day, every week, every month….

Hat’s off to brand rut. You got everyone didn’t you? Now if u’r reading this for any suggestions on how to get your life out of a rut, frankly speaking I have none to offer. However if you have any suggestions please do mail them to me. This posting is just a tribute to Brand Rut – you are definitely the most powerful brand around and I sincerely hope that you live as less as possible and disappear off the face of the world soon.


PS: As u can see my life is really stuck on a rut. Suggestions anyone?

The other side of resilience!

Everybody nowadays is hailing the never-say-die spirit of Mumbai and Mumbaikars. The city’s ability to bounce back from tragedies is being eulogized about and the citizens are being praised to the skies for the admirable way in which they helped each other that fatal night. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of Mumbai and Mumbaikars. I too agree wholeheartedly that the city’s indomitable spirit is to be admired and respected. But amongst all that respect and admiration is a twinge of uncertainty. Call it cynicism if you will, and I am a self professed cynic, but I think this bouncing-back-from-tragedies characteristic is a bit worrisome. What may be construed as indestructibility might just be that the city is getting used to tragedies and is simply too tired to fight back. So life goes on as usual. Praise for helping each other, might just be a lack of faith in basic humanity. So that when people actually do something naturally human, they are praised as messiahs.

I love this city. I think it is a great place to be in. But I also believe that a show of too much strength is not good. Not for an individual, not for a city. One has at times to break down and weep. For the people, for the loss, for their city. Me believes that real strength lies in breaking down and building again when something cracks, not acknowledging that crack, is denial not strength.

Mumbai is a strong city and it will always remain so… but today I think its time that we stopped praising Mumbai for not crying and lend it a shoulder instead. Maybe its time we stopped thinking about its ability to bounce back from tragedies and ensure that those tragedies don’t occur again. Maybe its time we stop a minute to mourn instead of carrying on life as usual again.

The world is getting smaller!!

Or so I have heard. But the way I see it, a smaller world has caused people to grow distant from one another. A long long time ago when people still used to use the pen and paper, a lot of you young uns were not around then, staying in touch with people was a tough job. You had to write letter, stamp them, post them and then wait for ages to get an answer. Admittedly I frequently forgot to stamp or post the letter, but the point is staying in touch took an effort which people willingly took. The letters were full of titbits about one’s daily life and frequently had lots of details that friends were probably not interested in. But courtesy those letters, at least the ones which were posted, people knew what was happening in each other’s lives. A flash forward to today and you have an inbox that is full of messages from your friends. But alas! They are all forwards, some which are hilarious, some which are interesting and others which are just plain dumb. But hey your friend has remembered you and now you can respond instantly. So what do you do? You send them another forward which yet another friend has sent you and yipeeee! You are in touch with all your friends. Unfortunately you still have no idea what is happening in their lives.

And then of course you have the gods of internet, Yahoo and msn, who provide you with messengers that enable you to chat instantly with your friends. Unfortunately they come with busy and BRB icons that always make you reluctant to buzz in case your friend is really busy. Of course since u cant see who u r actually chatting with, you might end up sending a particularly insulting message to ur friend’s dad, mom, girlfriend who had just switched on the comp. Believe me guys that is an embarrassing situation.

And then again see how the world of art and music have been affected by this
world-come-closer-thingie. Earlier we had songs of kabootars talking chiiti’s to beloveds. Now what do you do? “msn ja ja ja pehle pyar ka pehla chat…. “ or maybe a “sms aaya hai aaya hai sms aaya hai”???? See doesn’t have the same ring to it does it???

Well I know I am just plain blabbering now so am gonna stop. But please if any of my friends who I am “in touch with” happen to read this. Send me a letter or two. And even if u forget to put the stamp on.. it will be quite oke with me. You will get my response the same day… through e-mail.

What’s in a name?

Ever wondered how everything in our life has a label to it? Take relationships for example. We have dads, moms, brother, sisters, cousins, friends, colleagues and all the rest. But every relationship is suitably labelled. What about those relationships that fall somewhere in between? Relationships that fall somewhere in between of all these designated titles? What do you call those people who are not yet friends but whom you like to meet and talk to? Or those strangers whom you don’t know yet are familiar with. Like the guy at the bus stand you meet every day and chat while you wait for your bus? Or the guy who is a regular at your coffee shop whom with whom you pass smiles and an occasional hi and hello? Or those people who are much more than friends yet do not fall in any category? Do these relationships mean any less than the ones that have a name to it? Why do relationships that are formed out of emotions and feelings need to have a label on them? Why can’t they just be left at that? People whom you have feelings for. People who you care about. People who play a part in your life, no matter how small.

Now these might just be ramblings of an idle mind or they may be profound thoughts…. No actually they are not… but whatever, these are just few questions that rise in my mind. Questions, I for one, don’t have an answer to. Questions that do not fall into any important category perhaps. But then again what’s the need of categorising your thoughts under a label. After all, what is in a name?

i finally did it!

actually i have not done anyting much. just finally got down to creating a blog of my own. while others probably get this exhilarated feeling the first time they get a job, have sex, propose and do all the other'special' stuff, i get it out of simple stuff like creating a blog. simply because it is something i have thought of doing for a looong time, but have never actually got down to it. finally today, i sat down, put my energies into it and finally did it!!! by the way the all small caps on this site is intentional. its just my own confused way of showing solidarity with things, and there is no special meaning here, of small stature. anyway that's it for now. hopefully now that i have finally started this blog i will keep posting stuff in it. that of course will be another story of exhilaration.