Conformity

I knew a twenty one year old girl who had leukemia, who threw anything she could lay her hands on, screamed hell but was also intelligent and in a weird way, with bones sticking out of her, and going completely bald, was still very beautiful.

I knew a seventy year old couple, fourty five years married and still in love.

I knew a brilliant guy, the ninety eight percent one, who threw away his life in alcohol and drugs.

I knew a guy, who supplied illegal firearms, uncrowned king of a small town underworld, who called me brother.

I knew people who had more shit surrounding them than the sewage line of Mumbai, and still came out smelling of roses.

I knew a psychology student who used to think I was Freud reincarnated.

I knew a girl, who made an ISD call to her ex to ask him to never speak to her again.

I knew a friend, who would only see good in people.

I knew a woman, who would criticise her best friends continuously to each other and still had more than her share of friends.

I knew a guy once, who believed in supernatural and claimed experiences continuously.

I knew a guy once who would cut off his arm and give it to anybody he has met twice.

I knew a girl once, who would never be satisfied no matter how much people did for her.

I knew a girl once, who was breathtaking gorgeous, intelligent like anything, and yet with a heart of gold.

I knew a girl who was 21 and a mother of a year and half old child.

I knew a guy once, who would jump off any cliff, claiming you will never know until you try.

Yes, I knew all of them...

I talk often enough about conformity. I talk about chances, I talk about fear, and I talk about hope. But today is different. Today I will make a request.

The reason I wrote a line about all these people was because there are a million ways to live your life. There are million ways to react to a particular situations. There are million ways of judging right from wrong. There are a million ways to win, another million to loose.

But the one thing anyone (except of course the authors of self help books) will admit, they have no fucking clue as to the winning certainty of a way in a situation. You can always see the best course of action in retrospect, but knowing it as you confront the situation is not quite possible.

The point I am trying to make is, when we dont know, why do we interfere and advise. Why do we force our friends and family in conformity? Why cant we just let them live out their life in their own way. Everyone needs a bit of support. More so, when they go on and try new things, march in to unchartered territories. Why do we stop them. Why not, whisper a word of encouragement. Why not put our trust in them.

Why else do you think we have so many arguments with our parents?

Sometimes or rather always, you must let people do things their own way. And not, unwillingly or because it leads to an argument. You understand them. You put yourself in their shoes, and be there for them. Not show resentment towards not following your advise. And should they fail, for whatever reason, be there. Support them, without saying "told you so".

A world where everybody does it the same way is a boring world. A world where you dont understand your friends and family, is a sad world. And there is no solution, but understanding.

The world is interesting. From the things to see, things you hear, things you smell, things you feel and of course the people you meet. The chief reason behind it, as I see it, is the variety you get, from ugly to beautiful. Some that makes sense to some that dont. Some that is fair, some that is unfair. Some natural, some artificial. But it is all there. And that is what makes world interesting.

So, I humbly rquest you, please dont ruin it...

As always, with love I remain,

Yours Truly
Void

Description of SAIL MANAGEMENT TRAINEE (Tech) [Uncensored Version]

Very few things in this world gives as much satisfaction as poking fun at your job description.

A sub-specie of Homo sapiens; predominantly male, however, a few females (although ugly) are spotted every now and then and are usually surrounded by a crowd of males. There are no stable indicators of its appearance, since they come in all colours, shapes and sizes, but an average male is 5' 8" in height and an average female is 5' 0" in height.

Being a largely cold-blooded mammal, it does not venture outside in the heat of the day and remains lying on beds in air conditioned common rooms of places having Steel in their name (Eg. Steel House). It can also be found in any place that sells tea in a glass and cigarettes or well, most types of alcohol. These places constitute its summer habitat, which, if destroyed, will make it extremely difficult for them to survive the summer. In face of such a threat of extinction, The SAIL Management Trainees, migrate, in large numbers to other habitats, which maybe corporates or other PSU's, where AC rooms, tea stalls and alcohol are rampant.

Close examination reveals that A SAIL Management Trainee delights itself in singing songs, poking fun at others of its species, criticizing SAIL management, and plotting ways to change their species (the success rate is limited, but in another iteration of evolution, biologists believe, the success rate may increase by 5%).

Male SAIL Management Trainee is highly sought after mate for homo sapiens (because they are obscenely prosperous) residing in most regions of India. Mating commonly happens through parental arrangements and consents, followed by celebrated rituals (more commonly known as arranged marriage) and may involve some sort of dowry. It is although not uncommon for both male and female management trainees to enter into pre mating with partners without parental consent. Although, here their choice of a mate is very limited, and it is not uncommon for a management trainee to have a mate in a far away city (more commonly known as long distance relationships).

All current and future engineers, desirous of joining this specie are strongly advised against it.

P.S. I hope it makes a good read. I do not take credit for writing this post. The credit of turning a one liner joke into a full blown article belongs to my besty, Prachi. Let this be first of many things, that we write together... Cheerios!

Blast from the past

I am sort of lost again. It is surprising how often does that happen! Anyway, I found an old diary of mine, with a lot of stuff I had written, some of it live as it happened. This is bits and pieces from the darkest part of my mind, intensely personal. And therefore it is obvious, why it must be censored!

(Most of the following I wrote when I was passing time on the last bench in a class)

..... I am a horrible student, always been a last bencher unless coerced by forces of evil towards otherwise. And surely you dont expect me to listen....

... You see the things you dream about all of your life and you finally get them, dont always turn out to be the way you intend them to be...

............And I met my treacherous past, there was a lot that was to be said and should have been said and yet I didnt.....

..... There comes a time for everyone when they feel completely, utterly alone. This happens when you are forsaken by your best friends, the people you trust. And first you drift into a sea of nothingness and before you realize it, you get hit by a rock that you didnt knew exist.....

(And a particularly disturbing entry,)

August 29, 2006
Today looks like another long day. It is particularly difficult to spend the whole day surrounded by people and the days..... (unreadable)..... I dont know what the cure is, I am upto my head in crap. (Wonder what triggered this entry)

"The point Arpit, is to remember you must never give up on a friend."(This I believe is the best spur of the moment thing anybody ever said to me, I keep it close to my heart)

You critics or whatever else you may call yourself, are ashamed or frightened of the momentary and transient extravagance which are to be found in all creative minds and whose longer and shorter duration distinguishes thinking artists from the dreamer. You complain of your unfruitfulness because you reject too soon and discriminate too severely.
(A paragraph from a letter some author wrote to his critics, reproduced by Sigmund Freud in his book Dream Interpretation)

My head is on the verge of an explosion. A battle rages inside, a decision made subconsciously conflicts with the desires of the heart. What heart desires is often complex and more often is impragmatic. What heart desires is not always attainable, but the brain impregnated with power to reason and loaded with logic figures out a course of action less prone to failure. But the brain is incapable of power beyond all, a power that is both great and terrible. Dreams. Dreams can wake a man from grave and yet the same can drive him insane. Brain is also without the driving force that makes silver linings in the darkest of clouds. Its called hope. Hope is omnipresent, and its the one thing that nobody can ever take away from you. Courage can fail, hard work comes to naught but hopes and dreams retain the power to vanquish the darkest hour.
( July 13th, 2006, I remember the day, and things werent well when I wrote this. This somehow brought me peace, and has done so many times since.)

........ I just wish I could put all this behind me and close my eyes and fucking go to sleep.....
(A hard bout of insomnia catching up with me)

......... The body is full of hyper energy which is going to waste more than use.......
(One of the days trying to put TIRC together)

.... Its 1.35am and my hair are progressively greying by the thought of the magnitude of this event.....
(from the letter inviting people to join TIRC)

There are times in life when you encounter things beyond your capability. These are perhaps the most testing times anybody can face or the easiest. The difference lies in the attitude, broadly divided into go-getter or happy-go-lucky person. Go getter is the better human being, while the happy-go-lucky person is well, happier. Period!


Maybe passion is overrated maybe because passionate people are the unhappy ones. They chase sparkling dreams, and go after things they believe in, things they love. They are the ones who proudly wear their hearts on their sleeves and are not afraid of getting hurt. But a passionate guy is bound to be miserable as he comes to terms with his own limitations or the cavalier manner of his comrade/colleague/companions. But the passionate people will give you everything they got, till long after they can afford to.............

..... Maybe passion is overrated, but all it requires is two passionate people madly in love with each other to make an exciting life out of nothing............ I may not be much, but sure as hell know that I am passionate!

There unfortunately is no end to this diary, and I believe I will stop now, to be continued on a later date. Till then,

love
Void

An Iota of Inspiration

Last time I started writing, I wanted to write something that would inspire me and get my deepest thoughts out. Instead I ended up bitching about a failed romance. I hope to go better this time.

It has been a rough couple of months for yours truly, the Void. I have lost so much, seen so much come to naught, that I am beginning to doubt myself. Well actually, I started doubting myself, a long time ago, right now I am starting to give up on myself. Everywhere things are like coming to no conclusion, and as much as I am trying to move forward I cant. Its the deep alley I described two years ago, I am back there again. (Click here to read that post)

And real life and dreams are colliding, big time. I keep trying to assure myself its going to be ok, and trying to keep positive, and not get frustrated by it, but it aint happening. I am cold, and as much as I hate to admit this, I am rattled.

"A decison that went wrong in the past, misfortune and misery piled up and one strike and crash..."

But, shit happens all the time. And you have to look above all of that, and be good. I always say, Failure is when your best wasnt good enough, but what does a failure mean? Does it mean your life is over? Or that none of your dreams will ever come true? Some failures are more obvious, like failing a test, now u can always reappear in that test, so not such a big deal. Unfortunately, not all failures are that simple.

But you know, I am disappointed too. Because, I did put in an effort towards everything, I have worked hard for four years, and I expected some rewards right about now. I am just trying to convince myself, that I dont deserve anything, but I cant make myself believe it. Simply because I have put in too much fucking effort, to see it come to naught. Its all so screwed up that I am left wondering where would I be right now, if I had slacked off like many of my friends. Down a sewer maybe?


And maybe I have some other purpose, maybe I am meant to do something else. But most likely, my dues aint paid yet. It looks like, I still have some battles to fight before I can get my life back on track. I am prepared to start at the bottom again, and I am excited about it too. I know I will make something out of it. Right now, hope has really deserted me and there is no light coming in from anywhere, but well, things will change. They have to, I wont give up. After twenty two years of fighting life trying to screw me (at least last 10 years of it), I can easily take a few more years. No problems. I will fight back, its like that U2 song, "There is nothing you can throw at me, that I havent already had(heard)". I may be down, but I am not out. Noway!

Farewell, Baba... May the stars watch over you

"The distance was just over 150 km, but in our hearts it was more."

How do you say your final goodbyes? What do you say to a dying man? What do you say to your person who has loved you since the day you were born, changed your diapers, read you bed time stories, let you win at cards, smiled at your jokes even if they hurt him, what do you say?

What do you say to someone who is much older than you are, seen the life about four times as much as you have, someone who made his life himself, and in all probability made the difference between you being born on a farm or in the city. A person who has contributed to what you are today and what you will be tomorrow. Your first teacher.

What do you say to a person you love so deeply, but standing besides his deathbed you feel awkward. What do you say to a person, you have known your entire life and dont know a single thought running inside his head. What do you say to a person who wont speak back. What do you say to a person, who loves you so much that he cried everytime he saw you, but today with eyes wide open cant summon up a smile on his face.

What do you say to a dying man, how do you tell him it is over. How do you decide when to stop the oxygen and when to bring him home, where he want to close his eyes. How do you play the executioner of God's will. How do you decide when to kill, the one responsible for your presence in the world.

What do you say to his wife, whose tears are uncontrollable, how do you reason with her. How do you reason with yourself, how do you tell yourself to move on and to forget the past. How do you not remember the differences of opinion, and how do you wish for them to go away, how do you turn back time and wipe away those memories of anger and folly. How do you reason with yourself, it wasnt your fault.

How do you control the deep sorrow welling up your heart, how do you wipe away unshed tears or for that matter how do you cry for one who helped shape what you are today. How do you go downstairs and find the will to sit beside his dead body and chant mantras, how do you go to sleep. What do you tell his brother, who expects you to sit next to him and help him through the night with chanting of mantras. How do you switch on your faith in God, and how do you believe there are better things in store for him.

How do you say goodbye to your grandpa?

"The distance was just over 150 km, but in our hearts it was more."

How do I make it untrue?

In all of my glory, and self confidence... this is Void... confused and defeated... hoping the non cynics will fare better than I have.

My Two Steps to Understanding

I was pissed, then I begin thinking.
I understood the first step and I was still pissed.
I kept thinking
I understood the second step and I was no longer pissed.
I stopped thinking and went to bed.

That is how last three days have been. I have introspected, blamed myself for things that werent my fault. Gotten mad, lost control of self. But I finally figured it out.

There are very few things like morphine in this world. Nothing gives as much kick as a single shot of morphine in your spine. But there is something quite close, somebody coming up to you and saying in a very even tone they hate you, hate you double, loathe you.

The thing that really bothered me was it shouldnt be bothering me, if you know what I mean. Never has anybody gotten so much inside my head than that girl... ugh! But what happens, happens. Not much we can do about it. What we can do instead is figure out they why and take precautions that situation like that dont repeat. Not "the someone saying I hate you" part, but "the bothering" part!

I always quite knew I am not the most popular guy around, people hate me and I am fine with it.
Not much we can do about others. What ticked me off was when the blame games started. I got blamed for things I didnt do and for things I did opposite of. I am not saying I was all right, I too did some bad things, but well... I did what I had to do, to keep the Q4R going. And another thing that upset me was the fact, throughout the year I took so much shit for supporting these people, and at the end of it they dont appreciate it. Sometimes, I wonder why the hell I bothered.

But then, I am happy. I gave people a chance. I tried to make something happen, and maybe it didnt turn out the way some people thought, but it still was something amazing. That was the second step of understanding. She isnt mad at me, but herself. Everybody lost a lot during Q4R, but we all gained. There was not a single person who went to Japan as part of TIRC who didnt become a better/improved/well-rounded (take ur pick) person due to this project. Some of us even believe we took the transition from boys to men in this phase. But there was one person who didnt learn anything. One who lost on other fronts and gained nothing from the project. One person who let that opportunity slip right through her hands. She is mad because she knew she blowed a chance. By blaming it on me, she is seeking redemption of some sorts. It is the defense mechanism at work.

So what do I do? I stand by and watch... I dont interfere. Let her figure out these things on herself, if she does it will hurt but she will take step closer to development. If she doesnt.. well shortcuts also work! At this point I have decided to renew my theory of minimal human interaction. It was a bitter pill I got and I dont want another taste of it anytime soon.

Until laters!

Love
Void!

Goodbye, 2008: The Best Ever

20 years from now I will look back at the year 2008 and will say that was one of the best fucking years of my life. The same way I look back at 96-97 as the best period till now.

2008 brought back a lot of things I had lost in previous years. 2008 gave me back my confidence and my arrogant stride. 2008 returned to me the power of being good, it brought back old lost friends, and surprisingly a helluva lot stronger family bonds. It also brought back my self respect that was sometime ago flushed down a gutter. It gave me many new things like playing the role of an elder brother or mentor to some of my friends. I found the leader inside of me, reluctant at first but now in flow. And of course, the capability to love... that I had lost somewhere.

Life aint perfect, 2008 probably had more downs than I care to admit. But I dont count my life in terms of bad moments. Doing that is plain sad and waste of thought. I say this is the best, cuz I enjoyed it the most. I loved busting my ass to complete the project. I loved hanging out with the guys and getting drunk. I even enjoyed watching and handling Khurana-the drunk baby. I loved skipping lectures, getting on teacher's nerves. I loved plotting and strategising on the best course of actions. I loved studying, cuz the last semester was a hell lot interesting than study ever was. I loved how I was able to use, Satan's darkest tool-- manipulation for the good of Q4R.

To add to all that Indian cricket team has finished the year on a real high, winning T-20, getting to second pedastal in Test championship and all that. Liverpool is doing well too, my second favorite sporting team in the world, right now top of the table in BPL, top of the table in champions league group stage. Ferrari, my third favorite is also doing quite alright, winning the constructor's championship and all that. And of course, team India got like 3 medals at the Olympics!! That was the first!! So its been a good year overall, sportswise.

Now you will say 2008 might have been good for sports, but what about business.. recession and all that. But then you cant have all the things in life can you? If you do what will be left to fight for? And if there is nothing to achieve wont life be boring and everything? I say fight for things that are in our control rather than those that are not...

But a good year isnt just the one which gives enjoyable moments, I say this is the best because not onlyI enjoyed it but it also presented challenges and opportunities for the coming year. A lot has been achieved in 2008, the year that was the high waters of a truly entertaining voyage. 2009 is the year we reap the awards, reach the destination.. I hope it is as fun as this year has been...

luv n luck for '09
Void

The Year That Was

Yes, of course you got that right. That is the title of my unpublished abandoned first pathetic attempt at what even I couldnt categorize as a book... but yes it was a start and definitely one of the better titles I have invented over the years. Does that mean today I talk about my failed attempts at writing? definitely not.. thats a story for some other day. Today is the day for nostalgia.. and nostalgia is such an ugly word, the sound is all wrong, the spelling.. it reminds me of nausea and that sure is an ugly word.

So I get nostalgic a lot, big deal. Nostalgia leads to great stories or memoirs or just plain simple blabbering. Which one is on for tonight is but obvious. Today we explore the year in which I found and lost friends, remade them and ended up in serious brotherhood than I expected. The year I went on my first overseas trip, and the year I did something to be proud of, and of course the year I fell in love! lol, kidding about the last part..

So the year (and I dont mean 2008, I mean the academic year meaning somewhere August 2007 to till now) started with an acquaintance falling on his head one fine evening and seriously injuring his head. Out of this trumultous experience bred out the single most dangerous plan I have heard in my entire life. And as the fate would have it, I had a similar accident the next day and the severe trauma of the accident led me to accept what the plan had to offer. Somewhere down the road, we named it Q4R and of course Torque India Racing Club. See the trouble with my group is we are all emotional fools. We deliberately avoid any path that rationality suggests and hence we end up in more than our share of troubles. And as I recall one fine day in the middle of all of this chaos, I was sane enough to consider walking out of this plan but then of course my besty, the evil sorceress, deluded me with talks of pain and blood and right and wrong. Of course, she is sitting somewhere right now laughing uncontrollably at my misery. And then we got our first success, a bright young lad joined our group and he brought smiles for all and also our first cash sponsor. And we all have our fingers crossed that someday he will take leadership burden. He is a good kid, and although he did cry twice in Japan without any reason I believe he is strong enough.

And the year moved on, new year arrived, bringing university exams along. I did well in most of that, passed everything, and then of course febuary came. And everybody knows that I hate febuary, also January but not so much. And as luck would have it, I saw death again and I lost again. But Febuary brought some happy news along, like a car on four wheels, that was Febuary, 14th. But moving on, it wasnt much later that we had our first grand success, we had a running car as on April, 4th and it was a success. It didnt abandon us during the launch on April,5th and ran smooth as a cucumber and we were all relieved. We did fuck up the launch seminar pretty badly as were grossly mismanaged and underprepared, but TI-07 ran smooth and that was all that mattered.

Barely after the euphoria of success settled down, we were faced with the impossible choice, either get the rest of the money or shut the project down. Somebody called 15 days to get the money or quit, we got money in 7. That was somewhere towards the end of April. And that was the start of it all. We planned and schemed and blueprinted what TI-08 would be like, we discussed argued and selected an engine and went on a shopping spree. Nothing did last, barely had we started with our chassis work, the Uni Exams came to haunt us. And this time I might have flunked a couple, I am not sure. The results aint out yet, but maybe I didnt cuz my first impression was I didnt, so well. Once the exams were over, it was sweat and blood and thats all it took really. Countless sleepless nights, countless 16 hour shifts and countless days spent in sun on a roadside pavement completing a dream. And we did, and we did go to Japan.. but

The engine blew up, and I am not the kind of guy who cry at movies or watching tv. I dont cry when people die. But for some reason tears came out. Maybe it was at my stupid fucked up life, or my enormously screwed up luck, or maybe it was just plain disbelief. Cuz I believed we were the good guys, and according to karma we should have got back what we gave. But damn it wasnt meant to be. And perhaps even with the engine, we wouldnt have one that comp but damn it I wanted TI-08 to show what it was truly capable of. And in Fukuroi city, that night I drank my brains out. I was so hammered, I couldnt have differentiated between people and I might have killed someone if the right moment presented. And at that moment I felt like it was the end of my motorsporting dreams.

But Tokyo happened. And I saw life again (there was this great Mexican Sports Bar, called Los Cabos and it was amazing. I had virtually every drink in there and every food! I even ate an Octopus, met with some hookers and other random chicks), and my brothers rallied around me once more, demanding whats their right, another shot at the competition. And yes I was initially very negative, very cynical of chances of survival of Torque India. I am even on a video stating Torque India should disband right now, but I was wrong. TIRC is not one man, its more than that, its heart and blood and sweat of at least seven good men if not more. And well I couldnt just give up, can I? I am in this too deep to quit. And I am glad I made that choice cuz TIRC really deserve another chance.

And as I say again and again, Life is but a matter of choice, this or that, yin or yang.
Hope still drives me...

The Quest for Redemption

This one goes out to my team....

You cant seriously expect me to publicly mention what exactly is the quest for redemption, but I will instead share two of the most memorable experiences of my life.

December 2005- January 2006

It was somewhere 28th or 29th, I received an email from IIT Bombay, they said that I have been shortlisted for a workshop and competition on Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD for short. As it happened I did not know anything about fluid dynamics, so through January I studied hard, put in a lot of effort and went for the workshop. On January the 20th, in a classroom full of people from top colleges of India, the NITS and Dr. Atul Sharma of Aerospace Department, IIT Bombay, a first year student of a virtually unknown college raised his hand to tell everyone that he is the only first year student, from a virtually unknown college. I further confirmed I have had no training in fluid mechanics, the 35 people in that room except for me laughed openly, including the professor. By the end of the day nobody was laughing, as I was among the ten students, who made it to the second round. By the end of the second day, people older than me and from better colleges came to me for advise, and by the end of the third day, at completion of the workshop, I had wrapped up the competition and praise from Mr. Sharad Purohit, the director of CDAC. I also got to use ParamPadma, India's fastest supercomputer, ranked just over 100th in all of the world!

On that day I decided I will return to IIT Bombay for the techfest every single year. I was determined to win the biggest competition of the fest. I did make a team and we did participate in Techfest 2007 but didnt win, performed well in our own eyes but not well enough to justify the expenditure.

Three Days ago

The three members from the old team were sitting in my room and discussing the current endeavor. I for the fun of it, found the old drawings that we made last year, for the 2007 Techfest, and seeing those drawing, reduced us to fits of laughter. They are such crap, seriously useless, yet back then those drawing made infinite sense to us. Same goes for a lot of other work. So listen to me, for what I have to say is very important, it was a learning curve. And it still is, we dont claim to know the answers, but we want to find them. Its not about knowing but finding out, and giving your best.

That is what every competition is all about. Setbacks and crappy work comes with being new to any project, and it will pass and hopefully you too like us will look back at these days and laugh about it. Believe me when I tell you that this is going to be the most rewarding experience of your lives. People are always going to tell you that you cant do it, because they didnt do it themselves. It is going to be tough, not all the answers that you want will be staring you in your face but buried beneath mounds of dirt, that you will have to dig. It will come down to commitment, how much time and energy you are going to put in it. Whether you will put it above everything else that you have in life, or will you give excuses of from the everything else in your life to not do your share of work. I know each and everyone of you, and I know you well, even if I never spoke to you before but I know that you are capable of doing whatever it is that is your work. Never lose hope, or the faith in yourself. Also remember, that one person alone can undo the good work of all the others, if one part fails the whole thing will fail. So just keep your head down, and keep working hard because like our Web Designer said The Worst is Yet to Come.

Mr. Void, The Cynic

This one is for you...

I was talking to my besty today and we suddenly jumped from astrology to introspection and to blogging. Long and short of the story is she said that I should write one about myself, in which I introspect. I thought noway, not that I ever listen to myself. Anywho, against my better judgment I will write this, as a mark of how much that one single friend means to me.

I call myself a cynic, repeatedly. That doesnt make me a cynic, and that is not even important. What is important is the underlying desire to be one, for it is true that I wish to be a cynic. Forget the dictionaries, for me a cynic is someone who covers up the irony of his life in jest and present them in a manner so ridiculous that nobody sees the pain. For me cynic is a person that laughs at other people's misery not because he finds misery amusing but he sees similarities or ironies that other people cant and laughing is his way to deal with emotional surcharge rushing through him. A cynic to me, is the deepest reader of civilization, and of humans that forces him to mistrust one and all.

The underlying desire to be a cynic comes from my deepest, darkest fears. The feeling gets prominent with shadows crossing over. Small incidents, if inspected individually are probably harmless, but accumulated over the time claws and eats you inside. Only the best of persons have control over their darkest fears, these are probably the chosen few. There is another category that I totally despise and these are manipulators, who give in to their fears and work to achieve the opposite. These are the world leaders, these are probably the most successful people in the world. There are also people who just crumble under their insecurities, the weaklings, the simpletons. And then there are cynics, as painful as it is, they just swerve the link on which the fear is based and they decide that one way or the other it doesnt matter. But the truth is that the link cant be broken, and there is a stabbing pain whenever the shadow crosses confirming the side. But the pain comes and goes and cynics stand their ground unaffected in the long run.

But the truth is I am not a cynic and that there is a part in me that dont want me to end up a cynic. This is the part that gives me faith, and the immeasurable hope that I have, which is all I have. The courage comes and goes, but hope often helps in overcoming the fears, hardwork happens (although not always) and I find myself standing.

A few stand by me, but I find it so very difficult to trust anybody, to bare my soul. There are always half truths, reality covered in jest and fiction and things roll. As Void, the author, it has always been very important to me to hide the identities of people I mention in my blog because they are real people with emotions and feelings and not all react the same way to being exposed to the world. Sometimes I take the hit, in order that someone else's identity or secret may be preserved. My blogs are a lot manipulated. Am I mysterious, no I am not. I dont want to be, but it is equally important to preserve someone else's secrets. Although I am a little bit superstitious about not speaking about a thing till it has launched, and that I prefer to work away from prying eyes. I have made the mistakes about it in the past and found my work difficult when people watched me. I also dont answer unasked questions. So if you think that I am being mysterious perhaps you are not asking the right question.

There was a time when I really thought that the most important thing in my life was to have friends, now I dont. Now I yearn for success and for withering heights. To reach the top and give it all up to become an author. I yearn for experience that life will give me. But there is somthing that I yearn for beyond all, something that I will not mention today, because it doesnt fit the twenty year old Void. I also yearn for a quick exit from this world, twenty more years is the most I want to live.

I smoke, not because I want the death to come early. I want the quick exit but not a painful one, anyway that is not the point. I smoke because that is the few moments of true freedom that I have from this world. I smoke because it relieves my mind, sometimes just because I am bored but mostly because of the freedom. I drink for the same reasons, but I hate getting drunk. I hate to lose my control so I am not so hot on drinking.

One more thing about myself is I hate making mistakes, simplest of mistakes like saying Good Morning in the evening or getting excited or simply getting nerdy. And I berate myself for making these mistakes. I am fairly lazy and can be termed borderline reckless. But I am not irresponsible. I get things done and on time! I am usually punctual, except for the classes, which I can never get on time to.

I dont like people who dump their troubles all over someone else, and play the blame games. Dumping your troubles over someone else doesnt mean talking to a friend to regain some strength or some sense of direction. But I absolutely hate people who just have problems and those who never come through for you in your troubles. I am also repelled by people who speak a lot of themselves or try and impress others especially with money or possessions. But above all I hate those people who always tell you that you are their best friend, they love you to bits but when it matters you are left alone, and I have loads of them!

On Veganism, I would love you if you are a vegan but non veganism is hardly the biggest problem the world is facing. On God, I am my God and work is worship. On diplomacy, will never understand it.

I seriously hope you got what you wanted cuz I am not going to make another attempt. Introspection, huh? I know myself, if there is one thing I am sure of, that is it.

Friendship Day Tribute 2: My Dark Side

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." ---Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

As an author you always tend to suck on misery to get a feeling for scope of a situation. And as it happens, the misery thrives on details and the finer points. Unfortunately, unless you have an extraordinary sense of observation, the memories as rich in detail only comes from personal experiences. So here we are, waiting to dissect another episode of my life. I found it very difficult to dig in and find cynism so it might not be as funny but the humor is there. The Dark Humor.

When I am not in a relationship, I usually bitch and moan about how there are no good single girls in my neighborhood. And when some one is actually crazy enough to go out with me, I count faults faster than the note counting machine. After a few days of togetherness I duck, jump and hide in every futile attempt to avoid commitment. Failing thus, I try and sabotage the relationship. Most of it goes on in the head, the subconscious some idiots are calling it now. There were two incidents in my life, where my commitment fearing self couldnt see past the self imposed barriers and ended up hurting people that actually cared about me. These two are of the four people I omitted from my Friendship Day Tribute. I dont know why, but I think that they are important in some other context.

The first one, Dash I had called her the last of the times I mentioned her with my besty. Dash as in a hyphen or blank, not a surname. It was before I had the desire to be in a relationship. As it happened that my besty was head over heels in love with this dash girl. I on the other hand, enjoyed a slightly more than cordial relationship with her. My thoughts obviously were with my besty, as we plotted schemes to get them together. They backfired, ricocheted of the walls surrounding her. But we never lost heart, for three months we planned and schemed. Until my father told me that he has been transferred. And I remember quite well that, before her no girl had ever occupied my mind so much, not after school hours anyway. A few days before my departure the dash came upto me, tied a friendship band on my wrist. I was surprised to see her crying. I didnt figure out for ages, what that was all about. We werent that close! She said some heavy dialogue that just went above my head. In that chaos I left. Well, my defense is boys are idiots.

The second one, I sabotaged classically. There was this plain gorgeous girl, who was actually mad enought to go out with me, and I never paid any attention to her. I wouldnt listen to her, I constantly ditched her for other friends. Althoug we did manage some extremely touching conversations. I always run short of words whenever I speak of her...

Softly Now, You owe it to the world
And everyone knows that you're my favourite girl
But there's some things in life that are not meant to be
I'm not meant for you and your not meant for me
Here's to our problems
And here's to our fights
Here's to our achings
And here's to you having a
Good life From Me Good Life

Here is to our abandoned plans! To your success and happiness! To your Good Life.

Friendship Day Tribute

There are a l0t of issues that I will cover in this post, but above all this post is dedicated to my best friends, a thanks that is due. I also write this because my last two-three posts have certainly put out the wrong idea that my friends dont mean much. So on friendship day I give you my best friends in no particular order. (For those I forgot, I apologise. But those I forgot are only the people from my childhood.)

Priyanka- I loved competing with you.
Mukesh n Pammi, my first friends.
Vishsesh-my first best friend.
Hanu-Thanks for crowning me
Renu-thanks for completing my homework
Akruti-thanks for completing my drawings

Abhishek- Wish it hadnt ended the way it did
Kaushik: thanks for being there
Nidhi: You dont realize, but you uplifted my spirits in my worst time.
Nitin: Dude, grow up!
Nanu: Ah well!!
Roni: Umm... I am sorry.
Tanmay: My man! Keep in touch!
Akash: Trust me
Pranay: We are in the same ship, man.
Prachi: Thanks for everything... you will ultimately save me from going insane so dont leave me!!

A few of the best times in my life were when a friend came upto me and said I love you. And I hope it makes your day when I tell you the same. I love you, all of you... Even if I am not in touch with you doesnt mean, I love you any less.

(There are some names deliberately missing from this list. I dont know why yet, I will let you know whenever I figure.)

The Toilet of Love

One of the most singular (and fundamental) experiences of life is being in a relationship. But what is even more singular (and even more fundamental) is the experience of getting dumped. In spite of the affect this post will have on my personal ratings, I think it is very important that I proceed, largely because, as an author it is quite fulfiling to be able to extract every ounce of misery from a topic.

Those who know me best, will agree that I am as averse to a relationship as two rival heavyweight boxers or Manchester United and Arsenal or Ferrari and Mclaren. And yet, very occasionally their paths cross. You see, as a young meddlesome fool, I made it a habit to jump from one ship to other, occasionally braving a foot in two different ones. And suddenly, out of nowhere, a whim and a fantasy, the wildest nightmares realized, I was in a relationship! "In!"(Read Trapped) My world crashed, smiles disappeared, arguments surfaced and by God if I ever could have committed a murder... well you know what I mean!

Those deep eyes that captivated me once, now appeared to resemble the basilisk eyes from the Harry Potter movie I had recently watched. And the sweet sound of her voice was suddenly so sweet, I was afraid of catching diabetes. The only thing that did not change was the importance of the phone in the relationship. Not so long ago, I kept hoping for it to ring so that I can hear the voice of my sweetheart. Now, I keep hoping for it to ring, so that she will finally shut up. At both times the phone calmed the seas for the ship to sail and I suddenly found myself committed. At this point, my thoughts go back to Abraham Lincoln. He had a heartbreak, then he went on to become president of USA and freed the slaves. I quite understand him now, he had tasted freedom and wanted everyone to have it. Oh captain, my captain! (If you don't know that's the opening line of a Walt Whitman poem, and of course quite fitting... captain as in captain of a "ship")

The new "committed" phase brought about new changes. I have seen people belonging to this phase, discussing wedding card designs, or the name of the kids. And of course there is the "duty". Duty is the fond name, that I have since given to the task of going to (not on, but to) a date. You see I found it much similar to going to work. "Duty". There are many similarities, though I still found dating worse. You cant obviously miss work unless your grandparents die, but the bad thing is even death wont get you off the date. She will of course insist on coming. Then if you are late to work(or to date), the angry tirade of boss is always better than the tears of a girl with whom you cant get away by saying sorry. And whatever you say is wrong anyway, and you cant shut up either. It is what is called getting caught between a rock and a hard place. And with your boss there is always an outside chance of just making a sex joke and if its really good you may even get a promotion for producing a productive environment. Of course, if you make a sex joke to your girlfriend you will invariably get the tirade of "mad dash to finish line" or "just about sex" depending on where you are in the relationship. Then there is a lot left to be said about things forced down our necks.

The biggest point of conflict was my best friend. "Surprisingly" she didn't like him, of course not. What was I thinking, having a best friend without consulting her. I am ordered to find new friends. Of course sweetie, that's what I will do. And then, your friends are no more helpful than your girlfriend. "She is cripping your style man!" comes the standard response. I usually ignore that and his suggestions, as good as they sound. Basically, it is being idiotic and reckless at the same time, if you take relationship advise from someone who finds it difficult to get anything (let alone humans) to go out with him.

There was a lot I always wanted to tell her, but the smile remain attached on my face just because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I mean, well it was nice to have someone who can list all your shortcoming in under a minute, if you ever decide to strive to be a better person. And there was another reason too. Guys are "disgustoids", and it was nice having someone who doesn't wear their socks inside out after seven days of wearing them regular way or who doesn't eat like a pumba in a burger chugging contest and burps loudly afterwards. There are a couple of other reasons, but I don't think we should go there.

Then it happened, one fine evening, just as I was beginning to come out of despair of a hopeless bondage with few hours of stolen time with the guys. You can let your imagination wander if you really want to know how we were planning to spend the evening. Just as we were getting started, DING-DONG. That was the doorbell. And there she was, again, the girl uninterrupted. Or I should say the interrupting girl. Without preamble she marched in, and well then lost it. You see, when I said stolen I actually meant calling her with a silly excuse of studying or something. She screamed, not much unlike people in Ekta Kapoor's beloved K series do. (Another reason I despise k series, but thats another story for some other time), and I tried to explain that I was a good boyfriend (later I wondered, why the hell!). And then she pronounced, "Yeah well, guess what you are also an ex now."
I stood there "flushed", as she marched out of the door. I am still not sure whether I should have followed her. My best friend was the first to recover, he whooped and punched the air. I was still feeling horrible, guilty perhaps. But then I realized I am not upset.
Someone asked me "Shouldn't you go after her?"
"Nuh, don't think so."
"Yeah, you can just call her tomorrow and get together and sort it out."
"Nuh, I am not gonna call her." I didn't call her. She didn't call either.
"Are you gonna be alright,"
"Oh yes, lets get this party started," said I, recalling everyone to planned rituals. As silence dropped over the room, as CD changed, I thought to myself "After all, there are plenty of other fish in this toilet of love."

(I hope she didnt read this. Hey sweetheart, if you read this and you die of shock please dont come back to haunt me)

Guilty? Or little harsh

For Sanju Baba....
For wowing us from Rocky to Lage Raho Munnabhai









I may not be Bollywood's most ardent fan, I may not be the first in line for new releases, but that doesnt mean I love it any less.

Well over ten years (twelve-fourteen) ago, my father allowed me to accompany him to the Jaipur airport where he was going to drop off my cousin. As I had never even seen an aeroplane in real life let alone ride on one, I was very excited to get to watch a plane take off. But what I never knew, I had another surprise waiting for me. When we tried to enter the Airport, we were not issued airport tickets that allow entry in the lounge. "Passengers Only," we were told. I was sorely disappointed. Airport to me was like a castle at that time. As I and my father watched my cousin disappear behind rows of faces, the sound of screeching breaks made us all turn around. A black sedan (probably Esteem, I dont remember) appeared out of thin air. The doors opened, out stepped a man over six feet tall, looking like he dropped out of a movie reel. On his side was a lovely lady, in clothes I didnt believe existed. As he entered the Airport, a guard walking in front clearing the people out of their way. Many fans jostled him for autograph before he managed the short walk between the sedan and the gate. He was inside the gates when I finally jolted out of my trance and pleaded with the guard on the gate to let me inside. My father helped, and provided me with his phone book and a pen. With a nod of the guard I rushed inside, giving myself a full 360 degree visibility with a rotating forward motion as I desperately tried to reach to him before he got away. I need not have worried, he was standing in the lounge, leaning on the barrier talking to the lady. I rushed to him said, Autograph please and handed him my father's phonebook. He acquiesced and asked my name. I stammered it out as he ruffled my hair which made me stammer even more as I tried to thank him. I dont think I ever actually thanked him considering I was rushing out before I knew it, trying to savor the memory of the most glorious moment of the seven or eight year young life. I glanced at the lopsided writing, it said

luv
Sanjay Dutt

(I never possessed the autograph as my father told me he had many important contacts in that small, dusty phonebook. I anyway thought, it was too grand a thing to possess. Some years later I came to know he had lost it. It didnt cause me much pain, a little disbelief though as I was starting to question some of my mother and father's beliefs. )

I like Sanjay Dutt, I admire his work. The effort and yet the carefree manner, he is refreshing. From the don of Vaastav to guru of Gandhigiri in Lage Raho, he has proved versatile . From one cornerstone to another, he covered many leagues and in face of adversity. I liked the confidence, with which he faced the charges and the innocence of his pleading touched me. In today's Times of India, some person was quoted as saying this was too big a punishment for recklessness. Perhaps he was right. Even as we love him, love his work and his on and off stage antics the fact remains. He did something terrible, reckless yes, but yet a legal offence. I dont think even the judge will disagree if I say that Sanjay Dutt is not likely to commit another offence. But then the book says he should be punished. Then a thought comes to mind that punishment was meant to make the man see error of his ways so that he must not repeat the offence. Then as soon as that thought appears another counters, but what about other film stars? If Sanjay was let go others will take the law lightly. Then again, yes, but six years? and my mind just jams.

As a fan I dont like the fact that he has to spend time in a Jail in the same conditions as Abu Salem. As a person I think he should have been granted the probation period he requested, or at the very least allowed the one last phone call to his daughter. Watching the videos of his walk from court to police vehicle it appeared that a couple of policeman were trying to show off, manhandling Dutt just to prove they can. But I am forced to accept the bitter truth, that the decision making was done according to the book and it was a bold decision. As an Indian Citizen I am forced to accept on the whole it was the right decision, (minimum imprisonment is five years and maximum being 10, so dont think they could have given him two or three years) even if it seems very harsh.

And that's why they say

"the past always comes back to haunt you. You can bury it but it will always claw its way back out.."

Here is wishing our dear Munnabhai luck, and support. And the thing I forgot forteen years ago... Thanks, for the autograph and thanks for entertaining us over and over again. Bollywood (even Mumbai) wont be the same without you!

The Evening- Part 2

Note: This post belongs to Void's Hall of Shame

Part 2? You might be wondering where the hell is part one? But see, on top it says this is my kingdom, so I am free to do as I see fit. But there is a problem, you are not my subjects, you are my friends, equals at the very least, in all probability much more, so I have to have an explanation in hope you will return again.

Actually its not all that complicated, I once pencilled a memoir and called it the evening, very unfortunately I lost it with a ridiculous virus attack on my pc... so this is The Evening-Part 2... Having no connection whatsoever to The Evening- part 1.

Let me explain to you how a memoir works in my realm. Its an utterly distorted, mysted incident that might have actually happened. It is exaggerated, places exchanged, at times even two memories combined, which again might not be mine. The memoir is almost never narrated through my eyes, I might not in actuality be even present at the center stage but may be a bystander on the next table. Facts are very often very accurate, but the people and places are so much distorted that it will be hard if you want to figure out exactly what it is that I am talking about, but still an interesting read...

The Evening Part 2

It was the biggest day of his life, still my best friend was not excited. His face was the same cold mask of calm as it is everyday. He laughed politely on my tailor made joke, with a bad punch line. I wasn't sure whether he even heard it or not, but I knew his mind was on other matters. This day might be the biggest of his life, by the standards of everyone else, but I who knew him best knew it wasn't for him. I knew his mind was troubled, his thoughts running haywire. You see last night he had finally confided in me, he had fallen in love. And the thing about him was he never confides anything in anybody! Although he was a good friend to have, always putting his friends before himself and helping them, but didn't let anybody help him. His personality was such that it never appeared to anybody even he might require assistance. And he never complained. I gave him his tie with the perfect double knot, and he smiled at me, checked his Grey Suit and tie in the mirror, glanced at his watch and said, "Its time."

The rest of the evening, passed very quickly. It was the going away party- The Farewell as we called it. The casual brother of what is the convocation. We were all finally getting our degrees and stepping out in the real world. The talks on all corners centered around the coming life, mainly the jobs everyone was offered. I danced, socialized with many friends. He spent the evening in a corner, near the water table. Having a word with anyone who stopped by. He was lately being considered an outcast, he had not sat for an interview with any company that has visited the campus in the last year of our studies and everyone thought he wasn't eligible. Many people were even surprised to see him, because they thought he was repeating the year. At long last, the ceremony started. Names rolled on one by one, each person's achievement through four years of college highlighted. As expected by many, including me (although for different reason, for I knew the truth), his name was skipped over. I could see his eyes darting to a woman in a stunning yet simple blue dress. He smiled when their eyes met, raised his glass to her and bowed. She smiled back, albeit a bit surprised. As the names of 350 people were being called one by one, I saw the two get together and exchange a few words. She laughed and left, to a black haired, black suited handsome man, walking down from the stage, who took her arm. They walked away, happy in each other's company. A shadow crossed my friend's eyes, but it went away as quickly as it had come. Finally we were at the end of the 352, to be exact. And suddenly our host called for our attention, a silent swept the room. I knew what it was, for it was I who had planned it.

"Ladies and gentleman put your hands together for the Achiever of the year, Marc Gonzalez... I am sorry, Doctor Marc Gonzalez. For, his thesis has just been approved, he will leave this college an expert, qualified above most teachers that taught him."

The Grey Suited man straightened his tie, a smile on his face, after a year's oblivion this was his moment while everyone else looked shocked. Tears rolled down my eyes, as I saw my best friend finally lifting the gold medal for topping the university and pocketing the replica PhD. The ten odd friends of his clapped vigorously in a vain attempt to lift the scattered half hearted applause. "Nobody will care," he had said, damn it he was right. As he made his way back down, I walked towards him and I instantaneously knew his eyes were searching the blue dress. But he embraced me nevertheless. He shook hands of everyone that came to congratulate him and hugged the ten people who clapped for him. In the midst of the humdrum, a hush was suddenly falling. And through the gap in the crowd I saw the black haired, black suited man on his knees, proposing to the girl in blue. I saw her nodding head, and I turned to my friend to see his eyes well up. But the tears were wiped away quickly, and he strode forward to congratulate the one in the blue dress as nothing had happened. I walked with him, half expecting him to collapse. He didn't, he hugged the one in the blue dress and wished her luck, before excusing himself. I also tried to excuse myself but caught myself in the moment, the one in the blue dress was looking at my friend walking away with the same expression in her moist eyes as my friend held a minute ago. As I finally started jogging to catch my best friend, I swear I heard her whisper, "If only."

The Hole-y Umbrealla

Note: This Blog is now part of Void's Best of Me
When you live in Mumbai, you become as accustomed to rain as you are to the sun. Rain in July is like sun in the desert, it looms continuously, slow or furious, hardly relenting its furious siege of the city until the oceans scream and promise vengeance on ships that dare to stray. And more often than not, even that is not enough. In the moments the siege cease, dark clouds haunt the sky, reminding people of the coming battle. But it takes more than a bout of rain to dampen the spirits of Mumbai, the crowds barely diminish on the local trains or buses, although everyone seem to carry the identical black umbrellas. With the same instinct that you put up your hand to shield your face against ferocious sunrays, an umbrella shoots out, the shield against the relentless rain. A few other colors and patterns obviously stand out in an otherwise impeccable black wall formed along the pedestrian paths.

In this black wall, often a trusty umbrella adorned the role of a brick. Trusty to me, not to rain. When it comes to rain, my whims are harder to match than perhaps the most inarticulate of women. In a drizzle I might want my umbrella up and in a downpour I might want to get wet. I dont know, it all depends on the mood and of course the situation. And this umbrella never complains, just a trusty comrade, used for three months and then thrown aside in a box full of garbage that nobody uses, for the rest of the year. It never complains! It has never even betrayed.

One day sitting in a classroom full of boring people and an idiotic professor, I started tinkering with my trusty comrade and to my enormous surprise I found holes in the umbrella... although tiny ones, but holes none the less. And I wondered how is it still holding the rain. But with the class my mind drifted off the subject to other interesting things as I had just noticed Angelina Jolie peeking from the crude paper cover of somebody's notebook.

In the following days, many times it crossed my head to take a look at the umbrella again. But I didnt, perhaps as inseparable as it was, I never really considered it to be of great value. How often, how wrong are we. I like to tell myself it was because I always remembered the thing at the wrong time, and I just waited for the right time to come. Unfortunately at the right time, it never came back to me. And the hole-y umbrella continued the struggle against the relentless seige. Never once it betrayed me, always up and open whenever I needed to reach somewhere in dry state. A great comrade, a worthy possession. Each penny of the mere seventy bucks I paid for it, undervalued.

I look back today, at the turn of events as by my side lies the warrior. The handle seprated, the clothe coming apart, the bars bent. The finally defeated warrior. The failure is sudden and total, without any chance of repair.

You say to me, it was just an umbrella. Of course it was, but thats not the point, is it? The holes, the beaten exterior... signs of war... yet providing constant protection. Look around to see if you can find your "Hole-y Umbrella"
Note2: This blog post is written in jest.

My Best Friends

For some reason, these six people, total strangers to me, jump first to my mind when I reminisce my friends. For me Joey, Chandler, Ross, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe represent everything that I hold dear in a friendship. The series represented a group dynamics, not much unlike any real group dynamics. Each person knew the other inside out. They helped, backed and stepped out for each other. They all had their selfish moments, they all exchanged the negative roles between them but most important of all they stuck with each other, stood up for each other and were there for each other. This is what being a friend means, when being right isnt as important as being yourself. Now the blog is not about the series called FRIENDS, but about my dead past. And its a sincere note of obligation to those who stood by me, in worst of my times.

The first memories of friends, bring back images filled with laughters and tears, the defining moments and a carefree time. For they are images of a distant past, the time we called childhood. Since an early age, I was able to form a closed knit group around me. And I have had some ferociously loyal friends, and at a time when I didnt understand the true implication of having friends. When I look back, I find myself wondering how big an idiot must I have been to not know what the best of my friends did for me. It was release from a tyrant rule of parents, into a world where my opinion mattered and even revered (although to a lesser extent). This first group of friends I hold the dearest, because it was the innocence, the friendship at its best. We did make some pathetic attempts of staying in touch by snail mail (it was the year 1997-98), of course didnt work. Oh and I forgot, this was the first time I realized presence of girls in my life when I misunderstood (first of many times) a girl, and stampeded all over her (heart?).

Here, I must emphasize the importance of the fact that my father works in a bank. So he gets thrown around India a lot. That is to say we dont stay in a city for too long. The groups of friends, are mostly friends with each new school or living place.

The second group, I dont remember much for the simple fact that our association was brief and the end was marred by nasty incident. That was the first bitter pill of "everyone for himself", which I was to encounter a lot regularly after that.

The third group, for the first time in my life I wasnt leading, I was the lowest creature on the lowest rung. Bullied all around, I learnt the virtue of silence. Although not because of friends, but it was at this point in my life I also learnt the virtue and uselessness of truth. I chose virtue. But still, two years later I walked away with my head held high and a handful of friends, and these become frontrunners to people I call "old friends," for they continue to remain close to my heart. And of course since then, I have redeemed myself from the lowest rung to an equal. Of course there was the "everyone for himself" factor.

While I handled second and third group, a totally seprate group formed due to geographic sepration. This group wasnt noteworthy cuz, there was a detachment. A constant detatchment from everyone. Although, at the end of fourth group this group re emerged, very briefly but played a very significant role. And I love them for that, especially one person... (I will not name her, as going by tradition of no names) thank you, I still wish I could have done more for you.

The fourth group, was the first time in my life that I was so emotionally attached to other people. It was this period I found my first girlfriend, and two best friends to die for. At that time, I would have taken a bullet for any of them. The girlfriend I lost in one month, the other two in two years. The two people I cared about beyond any, had planned the lesson of "betrayal" for me in this part of my life. Three best friends, and each went his (or her) own way. Since then I have managed to patch things up with one of them, wasn't so lucky with the second one. It is funny because, in hard cold facts, the first betrayed second, I sided with second, lost first there then lost second for being friends with first. If it makes any sense whatsoever. Anyway, I have high hopes of rebuilding my friendship with "first" in the coming years. For after all, he was the closest of all friends I have ever had.

The fifth group, saw me eat the first pill of admiration. I have never admired anybody as much as I admired my new best friend. We braved many fights together, though lost most of them but I dont complain because I enjoyed everyone of them. We continue to remain good friends, and I hope it will continue.

The fifth group also saw me handle two sets of totally different friends, and perhaps this was the best time of my life. I lost the big battle, but gained much more. Then lost that too... but it doesnt matter even the memories of those two friends, who helped me realize who I am. They defined me, the fifth group and although none remains from this second group, they are never more than a moment away from my mind.

The sixth overlapped with fifth group's second and those six months, I could literally fly. Just before the strike, I was the happiest I have ever been in my life, I was like the child again. Three best friends, full of laughs and high fives. But well, life has had the knack of not letting me live in peace. It happened one fine day in January, everything broke. It dragged from there till July, when chaos... and I was to lose one by one, all three of them. Those three remain friends, it was I who was shunted. Dont get me wrong, it was my choice and decison. Rather than the group to breakdown altogether, the unstable element should leave. Two of those three still manage a polite word when they see me, which is more than I can ask for. And I am thankful for it. At this point in my life I wonder, where did the loyalty disappear?

Would you blame me if I become a cynic? Can you blame me if I dont expect life to deal the sunny side up. Can you blame me if I am reckless with not much regard for relations or friendship? I immerse myself in work, thats my cure...

"When sands of time dusts up the mirror of memories, faces fade."

I am hoping the faces will fade soon..

Bitter Sweet Symphony

"Cause its a bitter sweet symphony that's life"



These lines come back to me, probably in retrospect. Or because I am still clinging to a non existent past. I call it non existent because it has since melted away into nothingness. Or probably, in relation with a distant future, which again might not exist. You see its all relative. This or that, yin or yang.

Thats what life or destiny is- an endless spectrum of possibilities. If we assume Quantam Physics to hold true, which in itself is highly probable, life is but a matter of chance. And even with this measely statement I can feel scorn of the distinguished crowd who feel the need to write(right) their destinies. But I will request them to keep the focus, cuz I am not done. Words can often be misleading esp when I am weaving them.

Chance is but a choice, choices that we constantly face. Every wrong choice turns into a wasted chance and as you would doubtlessly acknowledge, this brand is easier to come by and harder to get over. Dumbledore(or JKR) over simplifies things when he(she) tells us people just have to chose between whats right and whats easy. But alas, things dont work that way. Some personality (I dont remember who) has been quoted as saying, you dont get experience until after you need it, they probably got it right. But then, not even experience is impeccable, as no two situations are the same. And of course, more often than not, it is impossible to know the direction of thinking is impeccable or not. I mean to be really rational in thinking, you have to consider whether you are being irrational, so you will definitely never chose what is evidently rational. But if you are being irrational in thought, the thought of irrationality will not cross your head and you will believe yourself to be rational, resulting into a solution born out of the irrational thinking. So yes, basically the thought procedure is faulty. Thats why high value is placed in being instinctive.

Instinct is another modern day illusion. Unnecessary credit is placed where credit isnt due. The procedure of instinct is simple, it randomly selects a part of the problem and finds the part of the solution for that part of the problem and the rest of the solution is supposed to fit in the rest of the problem. This is achieved by either being lucky at the dice, or as in most cases of people qualified as "instinctive", sharp brain ends and huge storage of data, so that they are not aware of the thought procedure which went inside like a flash, which in itself is a distinguished quality deserving more credit than "instinctiveness". So instinctiveness also fails with your knowledge, so basically nothing is fullproof. Its all a matter of choice, and you can probably see by now choice is but a chance. This or that, yin or yang. Something that you can not figure out beforehand, predict maybe, figure out never.

Hard work and tenacity will only get you so far, in the end lady luck decides. Dont believe me, (I couldnt care less), but well for the benefit of friends here is one example. Dice rolled and Bill Gates was born in US of A and not Ivory Coast (or perhaps some even smaller, unknown part of Africa). But what if Bill Gates were born in the Ivory Coast, than could he have gone on to be richest in the world? What would have happened to the computer world? (And please dont tell me Steve Jobs would have gone on to take the coveted no.1, I am sufficiently aware of Gates-Jobs rivalry) His destiny in some part was decided for him by choice of his birth, which in fact would have been something huge had it gone otherwise, and something in which he didnt have a say! Its always a endless spectrum of possibilities.

So I agree with The Verve its a bitter sweet symphony... do you still wonder why? Havent I made myself clear. As much as you would like being in control it is not something you can necessarily achieve. It is perhaps something similar to the endless pursuit of perfection.

A thought may stray across your head, bitter-sweet is alright but symphony? and I answer, of course. Isnt life a cycle of miraculous occurences, troughs and crests and with beauty strewn around. A journey, both happy and sad.
"There is nothing you can say that cant be sung"
And of course life rocks and so does music!!!