A Bowl of Elusive

Often, what you really think is not the wisest thing to say out loud. So we end up internalizing a lot of shit. It happens to all of us. It harms us psychologically. But hey, who cares about psychology in a country where the run for basic needs is an all-consuming affair. I have no statistical data here, but I think it is safe to assume that the number of messed up psyches that we have in India is way higher than any place else. With that note, let me tell you what this article is going to be about. I am going to reveal what I really think about things, because frankly, I think keeping them inside is unhealthy. And it is gonna be fun because I have a really active mind with a whole lot of opinions which do not line up with the conventional way of thought. And I am going to be very systematic about it. I will break my opinions up into sections by topic and relevance. So here goes… POLITICS I grew up with the belief that this country was a secular one. I identify with tha...

I spent a year in Bhubaneswar nine years ago. I was fresh out of high school and had just enrolled into this vocational course. The course didn’t take much of my time. So, I spent the year participating in events to kill time and earn some dough. My other pastime: a tall and ambitious girl named Jyoti. Pay attention to the adjectives I use. We met each other during the first day of the course. I noticed her because she was smarter than the usual Odia girl, spoke well and carried herself with grace and gravity. She noticed me because I was “exactly the kind of spoilt, bratty and privileged asshole that she despised”. Well, that was how she perceived me. I was an extrovert at that point of time, overzealous and outspoken and you would also have judged me wrong had you met me then. I asked her if I could sit in the seat next to her and she said NO. What seventeen year old doesn’t love a challenge. I didn’t know why this girl was averse to me but I instantly knew I had to charm...

Recently, I have been wondering at the lack of wonder in my life. I too was young once, I too looked at life with incredulous eyes. Things excited me. I had dreams and fantasies. But all that has become a thing of the past. Of late, I find myself confined to the monotony of my little life. The high point of my day is sometimes a gourmet dinner, a good word from my superior or the laughs generated from a FRIENDS episode re-run. I look around and I see small lives just like my own. People with their petty ambitions and irrelevant agendas. This was not the dream I grew up with. I am half the man I once wanted to be. There's nothing wrong in the pursuit of worldly possessions. After all, that is how people grow, but it's just that I wanted to be so much more than this. Like most kids, I too was raised with the burden of expectations, expectations of greatness. The parameters of greatness used to be defined at that point of time. You must be a doctor, an engineer, a sc...

Please don't let the dramatic title or that picture lead you astray. I recently got transferred to the divisional headquarters of my company, which is at IMT- Manesar, Gurgaon. I am still in the process of relocation and this article is about that. A few years back, "relocation" was no big deal. I would pack two bags and a backpack with all my precious stuff and scoot to a new place. As simple as that. But I am a grown up now. Once I could afford it, I rented a place of my own back in 2014. At first, I lived like a bachelor, living on junk food and hoarding trash till the house smelled like someone died in it. But then a girlfriend helped me buy some furniture and make the place more like a home. Before I realized, I had set up the whole place - bought a big bead, several appliances and a sofa too. So I plan stuff now. I can't just get up and go. Except, I did just that. I was offered this new profile in Gurgaon and I said yes.  The whole moving to a new plac...

You don't see a lot of love letters these days. Its a pity how so many staples of the last generations are eventually becoming redundant due to new technology. Receiving a love letter on email while equally titillating for a person in love, will never hold the nostalgic value of a piece of paper with eternal markings of love. A love letter, even when its torn to bits is still a piece of history for its recipient. Will an email ever hold that kind of value? It was way back in 2004, I think when I received my first love letter. It was anonymous, just a few generic words on an Archie's card. But the card was scented. Roses, I remember. It smelt like roses. Now I have never been a romantic, but it was an experience. One that I still remember at times. Not romantically as such, but as a fond memory. The fun fact was that I still don't know for sure who actually sent that letter. I mean, I was pretty sure who it was, but the person I suspected never really admitted to act...

Of late, I have been coming across more and more instances that point toward the devastating effects that insecurities have on shaping a person's personality. It is terrifying how utterly irrelevant matters are capable of instigating such paralyzing insecurities in our minds. I have broached this topic in many of my earlier articles, specifically referring to my own insecurities. I think it is time we took a closer look at this demon that most of us share. For instance, an ex-girlfriend of mine faced a lot of ridicule at the hands of her classmates in school for being too "thin". This made her insecure about her build and that insecurity stayed with her till she met me. I pointed out to her the fact that all supermodels are slim and people all around are body-shamed for being plump. I have been called names like "Yeti" and "Daanav" for being tall and heavy. But this article is not just about body shaming and its effects. It is about the effect ...

My grandparents never adapted to the technologies of the new millennium. Even my uncle is not really tech-savvy and doesn’t have any social media presence. But I do. The whole technological revolution happened in front of my eyes. The social media scene came into existence during my teens and it became an integral part of my lifestyle pretty quickly. Be it Yahoo Chatrooms, Orkut, hi5, or Facebook, at some point or the other I have used them all. Online messaging apps became a big thing a couple of years ago and now, people in organizations are using WhatsApp for conversations which were earlier meant only for company email. It is definitely a huge revolution and the merits of online social media are unlimited but it is also being misused a lot. That is, but natural and doesn’t bother me much. Systems are being put in place to check that misuse. What actually bothers me is the lack of Netiquette among people, especially a few elderly people who have taken to social media recentl...