It's a small world after all...

My pa always complains that our generation does not ever really bother to learn how to live in a society. Though, I always have my standard argument ready (“It’s only ur imagination pa!!!), secretly, I am forced to agree with him..how many of us bother 2 say a hello 2 our neighbours..how many of us know who our immediate nighbours are…how many of us know the people who sit in the cabins next to us in the office… we are just very much happy and satisfied with our own cozy comfort zone which we gift ourselves and just learn to fit into the whole big picture sooner or later, learning to be indifferent to the bigger things happening all around us…switching off from the big picture while being an integral part of it…

Well, today is one of those countless depressing Monday mornings at the office. But today is different from other days. Today, I realized that this particular tendency of ours, which am so often regretful about, has its own positives. My bus went by a different route today for a change. Usually, it goes along such a bumpy route that it makes you want to cry..but, today, along the other route, the roads were smooth and for the first time, I slept peacefully till we reached office and that made me happy!!!! True, there are several things which are not going exactly the way I want them to – there are lots more deadlines to meet, a 24 hour day is just not enough given the kind of multi-tasking am up to these days, a friend of mine, K, is not really feeling good about life and that has got me upset as well, but today, at that moment, those things did not really bother me nor did they matter!!! All that mattered was I had a good drive to the office in the morning.

For once, I am thankful that I’m adept in the art of being short sighted occasionally :)

Being Atticus Finch...

"To kill a mocking bird" was among one of the first few books that I read and was one of the many reasons that triggered my passion for reading. Fiction is not something that interests me much, I prefer to read about history and incidences that actually influence things around me and affect the future. But, I still can't stop myself from picking up a book from the fiction section occasionally, all in the hope of coming across a character that surpasses Atticus Finch in some way, or atleast matches upto that man.

While reading the book, I completely fell in love with the man's ideals, the manner in which he took everything that came his way; good or bad, the way he proudly fought a losing battle, the way he showed his children the manner in which to lead an honest and respectful existence and finally, for the manner in which he was comfortable just being who he was.

Finch stays with me till date. When I am in doubt, about the right thing to do, or find myself faced with a difficult decision, I always find myself asking this question, "What would Atticus do?" I always get the right answer to my question but following that righteous path shown by Finch is what I have not been able to do on many occasions, for reasons better best forgotten.

Well, why is it so difficult for us to be Atticus Finch in our own, little way? He personifies all those qualities which were spoken of highly in our Moral science classes way back in school, then why this reluctance to accept his ideals?

On the twisted route from being a child to becoming an adult, several instances negate all those teachings that were taught by our parents and teachers. Gradually, "survival of the fittest", "it's a jungle out there", "everything is fair in love and war" are the only teachings that stay back with us..maybe it's because we choose to remember only them...perhaps to justify certain deeds of ours...

Well, maybe that's why Atticus continues to charm me and many others till date..he is a reminder of that long, forgotten world where ethics were the only measure of a successul and good life. He's all that we want to be in our own utopia...but in the real world, I guess, being Atticus Finch is just not enough..one needs to have a streak of Gordon Gekko somewhere as well. All things said and done, Atticus continues to exist in all of us, it's only that we're doing a great job ignoring him.

When do we hear the wedding bells?

I feel it in my fingers...
I feel it in my toes..
Love is all around me..
And so the feeling grows...

Yes, love is all around me these days. Wherever I go, the conversations revolve around love, weddings and everything else in between. Added to this, the fact that one of my closest friends, D, is going to get hooked for life pretty soon (on a totally different track, she's found a fantastic guy for herself :) ). I m seriously very happy for her, but when I started telling other friends and acquaintances about her wedding, the question that everyone (including my ma!!!) invariably popped up was "So, when do you plan to go next???" Phew, I avoided it with a lop sided grin and a drawling "Phhhuuulllleeezzzzzzzz", but the same inane question repeating again and again got me thinking about the relevance of marriage to our perception of life.

Let's face it, we are all but in our twenties..still enjoying the hangover of teenage years and still in the process of making a life. Does marriage exactly fit in our plan right away? My friend D says we have to learn to adjust to the concept of marriage, marriage demands expertise in the art of compromise where it doesn't really matter as to how old you are. My retort to that one is why do I have to adjust to anything at all? Why do I have to include another person's dimension when I make decisions regarding my life and is any one competent enough at 22 to understand the subtle and intricate art of making a marriage tick?

Marriage is a beautiful and sacred institution which should be adopted when you feel you're ready for it and not because you've set a deadline for yourself. Most of the couples I have known and seen, entered marriage without giving it much of a thought , and did it because that was the next logical thing to do in their well thought out plan of life. Well, for such people, times pass by and sooner or later, they learn to lead an existence without love in their lives. Some of these people get lucky too, but how many of us, are ready to risk such an important decision of our lives to the concept of probability?? The problem is, at this age, we are not thoughtful and analytical enough to give marriage the kind of serious thinking that it deserves. Money, power, looks, wits or humour in a man are enough of temptation to make a girl walk the aisle. Love, most of the times, takes a back seat.

The point is, nobody enters wedlock expecting anything other than "and they lived happily ever after..", but the tragedy of it all is that not every marriage has a happy ending. Infact, some marriages don't even have a sad ending, they are doomed to go on and on and on "till death do us part"..Those are the saddest ones.

Well, as for me, marriage is a beautiful thing because I've seen it's awesome side effects on D, but am I ready for it yet? Hell no!!! Right now, am busy experiencing life and learning my lessons and enjoying every bit of it. So, the next time, my nosy neighbor or my grandma or my office colleagues or my friends ask me, "So, when do we hear the wedding bells?? " I'll have only one thing to say..."When I have discovered everything that I possibly can about life and its secrets, and need to rediscover the same things all over again from another person's point of view"...till then, spare me please!!!!

Things I wanna do b4 I die :)

1.) Run a marathon
2.) Spend a summer in Inverness.
3.) Paint a mural.
4.) Learn to play the piano
5.) Weigh 70 kgs :)
6.) Walk on the Great wall of China
7.) Learn to speak greek n chinese.
8.) Meditate in a Japanese temple.
9.) Meet Rahul Dravid, even to get tongue tied and make a complete fool of myself :)
10.) Row a boat by myself.
11.) Learn to fly an aircraft (a glider also will do :) )
12.) Eat caviare.
13.) Write a book.
14.) Walk along the Wall Street atleast once.
15.) Go to the place where the Berlin wall once stood.
16.) Stand on the Tianenmen Square.
17.) See the seven wonders and all the UNESCO world heritage monuments.
18.) Own a tiny farm.
19.) Visit Van Gogh's home.
20.) Dance the night away in the Mardi Gras parade.
21.) Visit the amazon rain forests.
22.) Pluck tea in Darjeeling.
23.) Drink Champagne in Champagne and Bordeaux in Bordeaux.
24.) Visit all the Disneylands.
25.) Learn to fly a kite.
26.) Learn to use the potter's wheel.
27.) Go hikin in the Himalayas.
28.) Finish reading "Glimpses of world history"
29.) See The Mona Lisa, Nike and Venus in the Louvre.
30.) See all the places in Vatican City which are mentioned in "Angels and Demons".
31.) Figure out the mystery behind the leaning tower of Pisa.
32.) Listen 2 Coldplay n Knopfler live in concert.
33.) Go bungee jumping.
34.) Visit all the four Tennis Grand slam venues.
35.) Visit the MCC museum at the Lords cricket ground.
36.) Walk on the Golden gate bridge, Brooklyn bridge n Tower bridge.

Random crap...

I am thinking about livin life backward

I want to visit all the countries in the world

I wish I could fly

I hear people say that Marilyn Monroe did not commit suicide n Elvis still might b alive n God is dead

I wonder if Bart Simpson is really pure evil or is he just pretending?

I regret not being able 2 make it 2 Mark Knopfler concert

I can't eat mushroom..yikkkeeeesss!!!!

I am is not past tense

I dance my heart out

I sing "Pretty woman" when ma passes by

I need to be way more creative when I lie

I cry without a reason

I make people mad

I write sometimes..

I get confused between sarcasm n humour

I miss those long n lazy walks interspersed with bitchin sessions with P&V back in BITS

I will definitely go bungee jumpin one day (inspite of my acrophobia) :)

I should read the letters to the editor in the newspaper daily..they make a lot of sense..n when they dont make sense, they make me laugh..either way,it works out well 4 me :)

Me too..me too!!!!

Well, here I am joining the band wagon of scores of bloggers at last...another brick in the wall...I wonder wot made me create this blog today...not that I have anythin new 2 offer 2 anyone all of a sudden...nor do i think all that much about the simple n complex aspects of life..am just someone with loads of questions and very few answers...out here on a journey called life, tryin 2 make the most of it..giving my best shot 2 the never ending quest of defining life in general and happiness in particular. So, let the flow of random thoughts continue while I try to make sense out of the random and chaotic nonsense of the phenomenon called life.