Wednesday, 30 December 2015

Do what you like because…?

Wednesday, December 30, 2015 By , , , , 4 comments


Recently, I visited a mall in Bhopal. It was evening and there was a rock show going on near the entrance. I was with a friend and we both stopped to check out the singer. He was literally good, and thus we spent some time at the place hearing him out.

Um..Not exactly my point!

Amidst the contrasting lighting, I figured out that the singer was someone I have known before. On carefully watching his face, keeping my patience and sanity intact, I figured out that he was a school junior.

We used to play football back in the days. And have even exchanged pleasantries one time recently. Honestly, I was awestruck with his voice. Trust me, I don’t praise unless I mean it completely.

In fact, his semester exams were going on that time. So, giving out such a performance in a crucial time when your exams are on the head is a big thing. I can’t really imagine myself doing that.

But, more or less, he was the man of the hour who was doing what he does best; sing.
Amidst all the glitter, glamour and singing, I was constantly in conversation with my friend who was relishing the aura, songs and what not? Everything.

Me: Yaar, banda to gajab ga raha he. Hena?

Friend: Han bhai. Talented he.

Me: Wahi to yaar. Aur mujhe hawa bhi nhi lagi aajtak. Rockstars logo se contact he mere.

Friend: Tere bagal me aaj Ambani khada he. Tujhe ye baad me realize hoga.

Me: Hao! Acha, iske papers chal rahe he. Manna padega. Tab bhi show kar raha he.

Friend: Bhai, paper waper hote rehte he. Wo sab nikal jayega. Sab pass ho jate he. Ye har koi nhi karta he. Yahi life he. Jo pasand he wo karo.

And this is the point that struck me.

Do what you like. Do as you like. Do even if nobody notices it. Just do it. (Nike, will you pay me for the ad?)


Because it makes you happy!

Friday, 13 November 2015

An Honest Indian Neighbour: Random Conversation

Friday, November 13, 2015 By , , 8 comments


All right! It has been over a month since I last posted anything here. Never mind. Nobody visits it anyway! But, hey, guess what? Yeah, yeah! You have guessed it right! This ‘guess what’ thingy has gotten old!

Honest Reaction!
Anyways, I desperately wanted to write a post on this title long ago. But considering my gifts of laziness and procrastination, I could not try my hands on it. But the time has FINALLY come when I will be doing it. Hihahahaha! *evil grin*

So, here is an ‘honest’ conversation between a random guy (RG) and his neighbour (N):

RG: It is a great weather . Let's go outside.

N: Arey beta! Kaise ho? Zinda bhi ho, jaanke acha laga. Aaj tumhari lunga. Hihahaha!

RG: Namaste uncle! Me acha tha jab tak aapne awaaz nhi di thi. Acha hun uncle. Aap bataiye? Aaj mausam acha he na?

N: Acha try kara topic control karne ka. But rishte me hum tumhare neighbour lagte he. Me acha hun. Chalo ab maze liye jayen tumahre. Aur kya kar rahe ho aajkal?

RG: Bohot sahi! Yahi question bacha tha poochne ko! Engineering kar raha hun uncle. Khatam hone wali he.

N: Oh! Mujhe laga kuch meaningful kar rahe hoge.hihihi. Oh! Acha he, acha he! Placement huya? Lagta to nhi he.

RG: Dukhti rag pakad li he. Ungli do to haath pakadne wale log he ye! Ji uncle. Bus chal raha he. Hehe!

N: Sach sach bol do. Hume bhi maze lene do. Acha he beta, try karte raho. Aur future me kya socha he karne ka? Sirf naukri? Higher studies nhi karoge? Ye daala jaal. Ab fasega murga!

RG: Kis muhrat me bahar aane ka socha tha aaj! Ye to kapde utar rahe he. Abhi filhal sirf job ka socha he uncle. Higher studies ka baad me dekhunga. Hihi! Nikal le beta jaldi. Koi to awaaz de do andar se. Koi to bula lo.

N: Sahi he, sahi he. Tumse kuch na ho payega. Samajh gye he. Waise job wagera me pareshani aaye to batana. Mere ek friend he. Pass ke gaun me factory daali he. Production ka kaam rahega. 10000 mil jayenge. Shuruaat ke liye theek he. Uske upar tumhari aukaad nhi he. Hehe.

RG: Yahi mauka he nikalne ka. Ji uncle! Zaroor. Thank you. Acha me chalta hun. Coaching jana he. Bhag lo.


N: Coaching! Ghar me ghuse rehne ki coaching. Hehe.  Ok beta. Ese milte rehna. Hume dete rehna. 

Monday, 28 September 2015

Disadvantages of being rich or beautiful/handsome or both!

Monday, September 28, 2015 By , , 8 comments

We all know what beauty brings with it; access to restricted places, endless favors, no ticket for breaking the traffic rules mostly and what not? And the same goes with being rich too. Isn’t it? I am none, though.

That's not me! Sigh 
If I start to mention the advantages, which I won’t because am lazy, then that will take a couple of more posts to sum all of it!

But, to shorten the longer version with a bad metaphor, it can be said that beauty and money are like the ultimate weapon to escape or to take advantage of any situations. Well, Almost. Work both ways.

I will leave the advantage part because that is common for all of us to notice and experience in life. But, what if I tell you the disadvantages of being beautiful or rich or both? Trust me, ain’t drunk.

Here are a few disadvantages of it. Add some of your own in the comment section, for when I skip something. Age has to be blamed for my mistake.

1.       They are not considered as talented
This is the most common thing beautiful/handsome and/or rich people get to listen on their back when they do something big. Be it, coming first in the papers or building something great. Or whatever. You have a better imagination. Use it.

Anything they do will be reasoned with their hard work and commitment for it, DON’T think like this. Because it has mostly been their money or looks that has done the trick, people say.

‘Ameer he bhaiya, asaani se jugaad betha li hogi’

And adding to the grief, this notion has never shifted a meter from its ground. It is affixed like the shitty daily soaps of Indian TV channels. Gustakhi maaf ho Ekta Kapoor ji.


2.       They befriend people with hidden motives
This is also very common. When you are beautiful/handsome, you get enough attention all ways round that it burns people like me to the ground. Easily. Same goes for wealthy individuals too.

Consequently, you get a mixed batch of people associated in your life who would lick your feet and brag about you throughout the day and continuously for weeks and weeks. 
Hum mar gye he kya bhaiya? Tanik idhar bhi chaaploosi karlo.

And all this for something. May be, monetary support or other kind of support you well know.

However, there will be a handful of people (excluding your family) who will love you for who you are and will be a part of your life. But, in the herd, it remains a tough task to differentiate the good sheep or the bad sheep.

You will always be in doubt whether people like you for who you are as a person or for your looks or money. Period.

That is all I could think of. Would love to have your opinion, suggestion and points about this post. Thank you for reading.

P.S.: I love to watch Shaun The Sheep. Do you?!

Sunday, 13 September 2015

How many dates does it take to know if he/she is the one?

Sunday, September 13, 2015 By , , , , 2 comments

I will start with the question itself. ‘How many dates does it take to know if he/she is the one?’ (Because falling for a nice body, perfect teeth and old lines are a clichĂ©)



Some will say, just one. Apparently, these people are a big fan of newspaper astrology and apps like Tinder and iPair. Sigh. And traditionally, belong to the love-at-first-sight category, no doubt. (Oh my! That easy!)

Others will say, two, with their own level of understanding and reasoning. And the last will be those pessimists who will wave it off saying, you just can’t decipher it.

Well, no one is wrong (but the apps don’t work), you see. Even those pessimists. After all, we are dealing with something tricky, which, though not as hard as rocket science, but can keep anyone pondering for years to reach an answer.

However, having an engineering background doesn’t allow me to leave this enticing question over fate and zodiac signs for God’s sake. We (read: engineers) are taught (not really) to be logical on every single thing in this world. Whether it is your dog pooping on the mattress or you reading this great (I lie at times) article, everything can be answered logically, they say.

Anyways, on analyzing the question you will find that the number of dates required to magically find your soul mate are directly proportional to certain important points. Those points if paid attention to and checked for, can fetch you your soul mate in just ONE date (No money-back guarantee, kidding). Forget one date, but at the earliest. Also, through those points you can even check whether the things are going on the right track or have 
you taken a wrong flyover.

Following are the points to be noted (mentally):

1.    Trust: Establishing unshakeable trust is the first important point. Why? Mostly because, majority of the people who you presume to be a decent match as your partner is, shockingly, not looking for one-soul-two-bodies type relationship. They want to have a short fling (involving genitals) and part ways. In and out, just like that. And for that, they lie about being in true love with you.

So, it is important to be fully convinced and trust them on what they do and say. Until cent percent sure, you should not move ahead with anything else. After all, you can’t trust a con man to win a battle with you!

You can take precautions like the following example (if you are a girl). And if you are a boy, then hallelujah man!

Your Date: Hey, where are you?
                 I miss you. I am ALONE tonight.
                 Wanna come watch a movie at my place? ;)
You: Unfortunately, this user does not accept messages after dark.
        Please try calling/messaging during daylight hours. Thank you!

Ahem! That escalated too quickly as an example. But, you can improvise, am sure.

2.    Happiness: Second point to check for is happiness. It is important to live your life with your better half with a glee (not all the time, though, muscle pain, you see). So, check for a happiness percentage without a calculator and those apps (you well know). And make sure that it comes almost 100% considering those mild altercations and arguments at times.

Ultimately, happiness is the key to success and definitely a master-key to a successful relationship. So, point number two to check for is happiness. A genuine one. Making sense. Period.

3.    Love: Ah! We are finally onto something that this whole thing is pretty much dependent upon; Love. Make you skip a heartbeat whenever you hear that word and a picture of your partner cinematically (with DDLJ music playing in the background) crosses your mind, doesn’t it?. Stop.

This is tricky because most people are initially infatuated or smitten by the other person and they confuse it with love. And this happens more than often. So, do not be doubtful when evaluating this thing.

‘He can stretch hands in slow motion and bend his head to 15 degrees, just like Shahrukh Khan. I have found my love of life.’

WAIT! What?! Do not analyze love like this!

Be conscious and not childish in questioning yourself whether you love them truly, madly and deeply. And in return, whether they love you too. If the answer is 100% yes, then congrats, you have three points checked. And what’s more necessary than love between two people, right? (Oxygen and money, of course, but that’s purely logical. Be dil-logical here.)

4.    Compatibility: ‘All right, trust, happiness and love, checked. Everything set. So, he/she is the one for me.’

If this is going through your mind right now, then please, please stop thinking.
You may wonder, why?!

And that is a valid question. So, let me put you through it with the help of an example.
Consider a cricket player who has a brilliant regional cricket record, is great looking from the market’s perspective and is highly rated. Can you still jump into conclusion and decide him to play an international match against the best team, considering you are the prime selector?

You will give him a chance, right? Just to test his credibility. You will give him more chances to make your assumption rock solid. And only when you are fully satisfied, he will be made permanent in the team.

Apparently, all this time, you will not hurry and get effected by external sources at all for making a final decision. Tell me if am wrong.

So, why to hurry while making an important life commitment? You have been patient all this long. Have some more of that to test him/her on how they gel-up with you under different situations.

To be specific, how compatible are the two of you in real. For this, spend more time with them. Associate them with your life cycle and share your problems. Do something together apart from you-know-what (Three letter word. Starts with ‘S’ and ends with ‘X’).
Something meaningful that will clear the cloud from how they tackle problems with you. Whether they lose their calm or stand with you throughout it. Because this is a very important aspect of life.

And, as a matter of fact, who stands with you deserves you more than anybody else. Deserves to be ‘the one’.

So, these are the points to observe before settling for anybody. And if validation of these take one date (really!) or a couple more, will be totally situational.

Best wishes. (I soon expect a cheque) 

Monday, 17 August 2015

Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 2

Monday, August 17, 2015 By , , , 14 comments

Finding it hard to recall the previous story? Read here: Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 1 
Oh! Visiting for the first time? Welcome. Read this: Not a love story: How they met?

‘Hi’, said a 5’10 inches tall, muscular guy with no sense of wearing casuals and an enigmatic grin stood behind Sahil.

With a weary smile, Eshita responded with a single word, hi.

‘What’s up, won’t introduce me to your new friend, huh?!’, he said with an impulsively creepy gesture.

‘Ah, yeah.. Meet Sahil. And Sahil, this is Anurabh.’

They both exchanged a practiced smile and shook hands as most guys do. It is a gentlemen’s statement which sets a good tune, generally. None of which happened there though.

Sensing the awkwardness sipping in, Eshita said frantically, ‘Sahil had his birthday yesterday. We were celebrating here.’

Sahil gave a flat lipped smile to confirm the fact, wondering about the need to reveal that.

‘Hey, belated happy birthday man’, the muscular guy extended a hand to wish him.

‘Thank you’. *Please get it over*

Another aura of uneasiness clouded around them. All because of the nosy new guy which nobody liked at that point, including Eshita.

‘Mmm… So, will leave the two of you enjoy the treat.’ The giant left sensing discomfort around. And, Eshita immediately gave a sigh of relief.

Sahil wished to ask about the guy but didn’t weigh in to sound desperate. And simply sighed in relief. But he had his theory, assumptions and curiosity, everything inside, locked safely to unleash some other time. Some better and comfortable moment.




They both finished the food and beverages. The conversation after the strange meet with Anurabhdidn’t bloom. It drifted above the normal topics here and there. And after a few minutes they both left for the day bidding good-bye.

Later that night while conversing something, Sahil popped up a question about Anurabh. He wished to know who he actually was remembering the edgy atmosphere earlier around Eshita, especially.

Sahil was curious and bold enough to put that up to Eshita. She took her time to reply and after so much of typing… she said, ‘He was a friend.’

Sahil didn’t believe her. But he didn’t wish to play lawyer-lawyer that time. So, he drifted the subject to something else.

‘Up for a truth and dare game?’ *winked*

‘Mmm… all right. Sure’, said Eshita with brooding eyes, as if recalling something important. She was still not through with the question of Anurabh.

Anyways, they kick-started the game and it subsequently got interesting with the passing time. Nobody was willing to sleep even at 2 in the morning. Their eyes started to water, fingers yelled for a break and other biological signals were clear that sleep has knocked at the doors. But they didn’t attend to it and kept the game going.

And as the game progressed, they came to know about each other even more. With every passing question and every information shared, the bond was strengthening. After all, they knew each other’s little secrets now. And secrets bind two people just like fevicol. Quickly and strongly.

‘Ok, so 1 last question for tonight. You ask’, said Eshita. Seemed like she opened the door for the sleep.

Knowing the condition, Sahil gave a devilish smile and almost typed a question regarding that bulky, puzzling guy, Anurabh, this morning. But right before pressing enter, he reconsidered.

He contemplated that if he questions about him again to her, then she might get suspicious about his unsettling curiosity. Presumably, she will feel that he doubts her, which he does, but not want to make it so obvious. And that will not be a good signal to send.

But, also at the same time, he wished to ascertain his deductions about Anurabh and Eshita. He wished to know that he was right about the situation. And that Eshita lied to her. His child like enthusiasm was at the peak. So, he rephrased the question as..

‘Is there anything that I should know about you?’ *fingers crossed*

Eshita immediately replied, ‘No, I have told you every important thing.’

Sahil kept patience and didn’t type anything to put the bait.

When people hide something, they feel extremely uncomfortable with another person’s silence. So, they either blur out anything or something relevant, to convince the other person under such situations.

After 20 secs of no reply, Eshita did become a little anxious.

‘There?’ She asked.

No reply. Sahil was simply testing her patience and waiting for the answer that he thinks is right.

After another 30 secs, she added, ‘Seems like you have slept’. Restlessness was all over her.

She could see that the messages have been read, so that made her uncomfortable. She started to ponder whether Sahil knows the truth or has his doubts. Or whether she is just over-thinking about it. She kept evaluating and assessing for a while. And with no reply coming from the other side, made her clench her fingers in tension.

But finally, after 2 mins, she wrote this.

‘Seems like you have slept. No problem, we will talk tomorrow. Also, one thing about which I lied earlier is that, the guy you met this morning, Anurabh, was my boyfriend. We broke up last week. Sorry to lie about it. I hope you won’t mind. Have a great night. Tc.’

And she went to sleep peacefully with no burden. She spoke the truth. She was a free bird with no guilt.

Sahil on the other side banged the desk in victory. He knew there was something fishy. His detective skills were improving with Sherlock’s episodes on a roll.

He was happy to know that she revealed the truth. Mostly because of his own efforts. But the thing that puzzled him was why did she hide it in the first place?! Whether she thought he might not like it and this would affect the bond between them. Or, she simply wanted to keep it personal. All this was blurry!

And such questions raided his mind continuously until he caught a sleep. He didn’t reply to her because that might have generated another round of questions and speculations about his sudden absence and arrival. However, he planned on sending a message in the morning at the earliest. And with that he closed his eyes and got lost in the peaceful darkness.


To be continued…

Monday, 27 July 2015

Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 1

Monday, July 27, 2015 By , , , 10 comments

NOTE: Here are the first 2 chapters of this mini-series: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

There he was at CafĂ© Coffee day, at 5pm sharp, waiting for her and analysing his decision of being on time. How could he not work this through that a girl is always 2 quarters late on arrival?! Seemed like, those Sherlock episodes of last night didn’t work it’s magic on him.

Nevertheless, as expected, she came 15min later than the theoretically assumed time. 5.45 pm it showed on his watch along with a little disappointment on his face mixed with a pinch of regret.


Almost helping himself from the anti-climax and tiredness of waiting for someone, he stood up, walked to the other chair and pulled it out for her.

With more of a sorry-I-got-late-please-don’t-be-mad than a thank-you-for-the-chivalry face, she took the seat.

‘I am really sorry for making you wait like this.’ She immediately said apologetically enough to melt down Sahil’s little anger.

As a matter of fact, Sahil never liked to wait for anyone. He was an on-time guy and wanted others to appreciate the value of time as well. But much to his woes, things have never been the way he wanted them to be.

‘No, it is fine.’ He blurted immediately as if rehearsing it since hours, may be months, with different people at the receiving end.

Unable to comprehend the latent tension on the other side, she switched off the sorry-mode, assuming that would be of no use. After all, she has never been a make-up girl. She found it tiresome and tough to reconcile for her wrong doings after a certain point. And that point was mostly an honest ‘I am sorry.’ That’s it. Apology made for her.

Sahil didn’t like to stay with the wind too. He moved on fast. Something that time has taught him through the hard way. So he blended well and asked what she would like to have.

‘One peppy chicken roll and cafĂ© latte’, she said almost hiding her excitement. She was a big time foodie and never compromised food for an hour-glass figure. ‘Who would skip delicious meals for something so materialistic,’ she would say. However, those calorie filled meals weren’t visible by her looks. Morning yoga and cardio have done its magic have paid well.

Then, almost interrupting him, she took out a gift from her purse and with a sweet sugary smile passed that to him.

He didn’t foresee that up to this extent, so he took it as a massive surprise which was quite evident through his next-to-weird reaction.

‘Oh my God. I… didn’t… mmm… that’s so sweet of you. Thank you.’ He said while fighting a frog in his throat and making awkward gestures to blend in with the situation.

She answered with a smile when he slowly placed that rectangular shaped gift box while guessing what’s inside it. He gave up too early and went on to order the food stuffs.

‘Thank you, I seriously didn’t anticipate that. You actually shocked me twice today. Haha.’ He said after coming back.

Sahil had a way of expressing himself. If he had a grudge or something he disliked, he would say it indirectly through something sweet. It is kind of an encoded message in a box of chocolate. So, mostly it went unnoticed or stayed hidden behind that alluring other sentence. This way he confessed and let go of the things while not hurting the other person. He disliked hurting people. So he avoided it as much as he could.

‘Haha. I am actually sorry for coming late. And about the gift, it is the least I could do for you birthday boy.’ She grinned.

Eshita believed that one should never visit anyone, on their birthday or a birthday party, without a gift. No matter how small it is, never go empty-handed, she thought, just like Sahil.

‘You are very smart, I must say.’ He said with the first genuine smile of the evening.

‘Thank you. Thank you.’ She chuckled.

Meanwhile, their orders comes and were about to get into business of eating, sipping coffee and more talking, but all this was taken aback by the ghastly look on Eshita’s face when she caught a glance of somebody. Somebody familiar to her. A lot familiar.


To be continued…

Read the next part, here.

Monday, 20 July 2015

Not a love story- The birthday

Monday, July 20, 2015 By , , , 9 comments

Note: Read the first chapter of this mini series here.

He logged into his Facebook account and saw 6 notifications. 3 were the truly displeasing candy crush requests, while the remaining were the birthday wishes. But out of all those, the last one caught his mind that read, ‘Eshita has written on your timeline’.

Sums up a birthday!

Unable to contain his excitement, he immediately clicked on the link and got redirected to the timeline post of hers that read,

‘Wish you a very happy birthday Sahil. May you get whatever you want in your life.
PS: Too bad you didn’t tell me about your birthday. Thank God I surf Facebook round the clock and took notice of other people’s wishes on your timeline. This will have consequences (party type). *wink*’

He read it and smiled. And after thinking for a second he typed the first thank-you message of the evening.

‘Glad to see your message. Thank you for it. I am ready to pay for my sin. *wink*’

Thereafter he quickly skimmed through the rest of the wishes on his timeline. He thanked each one of them who took their time out to wish him luck. The feeling was profound because he hid his birthday info on Facebook a year ago only to include people who genuinely cared and made efforts for him.

After 15 mins…

He was watching a video on YouTube when a notification sound caught his attention. He paused the video and clicked on the Facebook tab. A childlike glee spread on this face. It was Eshita’s reply to his earlier comment.
‘You should be. *wink*’

‘Hi. Thank you for the birthday wish. I didn’t anticipate that.’ He promptly sent this and waited curiously for her reply.

‘You’re welcome. Though I am angry that you didn’t tell me about your birthday.*sad*

Over the two weeks of interaction, this thing never caught up as a subject to them. They mostly discussed anything except for their favorite color, hero, heroine and birthday.

All those basic questions that once acted as a conversation starter for most people was surprisingly overlooked by them. May be, the times have changed. Now, you don’t have to discuss lame things, like favorite colour, to carry on a conversation. The list of topics is huge today. And people have become even more open.

‘I am sorry. But this thing never crossed my mind. By the way, when does your birthday come?’

‘Yeah, right. It will be on the 29th of the next month. Do not forget to wish me. Haha!’

‘I won’t.’ He made a mental note so as not to forget about it. Although, he quickly added a reminder to this cell phone because of his terrific memory power which has gotten him into a lot of trouble lately.

‘Are you free tomorrow?’ He added.

‘Mm… yeah. Why?’

‘For dealing with the consequences. *wink* Birthday treat.’ He crossed his fingers in desperation. Something that happens with most of the guys when they invite a girl and do not wish to be rejected or put on a wait.

‘Ahaaan. Would love to. When? Where?’

‘Whatever time and place suits you.’

‘Ok. Then, CafĂ© Coffee Day at 5pm?’

‘Seems fine.’

‘Alright then birthday boy. Time to catch a sleep. See you tomorrow. Once again, happy birthday. *smile*’

‘Thank you. Have a great time. Ciao. *smile*’

With a thoughtful face and a set curve of bliss he logged out.


To be continued…

Read the next chapter, here.