Being Judgmental

We all have heard never judge a book by its cover but ours is indeed a judgmental society. We
love to judge others, It is not a flaw it is just human nature. Our society does not allows
anybody to be just himself. Judging is a double-edged sword. If we judge someone to be lower
or worse than us then it can create an insecurity or phycological marks on the person who is
judged. But we also tend to judge others who are better than us and that creates jealousy and
unnecessary comparison. Judging without a strong reason is just not sensible.
I cannot speak for the United States but in my country neighbors and relatives have a full-time
job judging others. Last time I went home, my cousin sister asked me where I live, when I told
her Las Vegas – there was a sudden change in her expression, she replied is it not a drugs and
party city. Her tone implied that I spend most of my time in the casinos losing all my money.
She must be thinking that I chose to work in Las Vegas because of the casino, legal weed and
strip clubs, and just because Vegas has the biggest strip club in the world that does not mean I
am a regular customer of those clubs.

Indian culture is still conservative about sex. The funny part is we don’t talk about sex openly
but we breed like rabbits, India has the 2 nd largest population, I don’t understand from where
those kids are coming from. Actually, it is ironic, Kamasutra was written in India, our forefathers
will die a second death if they see their future generations shy away talking about sex.
See Now - I have started judging my own country.

Before judging I should consider that most parts in India has gone through a 1000 years of
Mughal and colonial rule, there was poverty and war, our perspective and views were altered,
we were told and made to believe our thinking and culture were not pure. Our literature was
burnt and universities destroyed, Trade and business banned. There are many reasons that can
be argued, some maybe true some maybe false. And India is a very young country, it is only 70
years old, it will develop and change for good. 1000 years of domination cannot be undone in
70 years.

I know all this but still I judge my country a lot and admire the western countries, and to be true
there is a lot to admire in the west and very less in the east at this time. I cannot change my
judgmental nature but I can change my behavior and attitude towards being judgmental.
I cannot forget a childhood incident, When I was young, during school summer vacations we
used to live with my uncles family in our ancestor house in a small town. They had a shop
connected to the house in front, it also acted as 1 of the ways to leave or enter the house.
One of my cousins, we were 13-14 years old at that time, used to have very long hair and a
tattoo. My uncle wanted his son to pay attention in his studies, according to him studies and
fashion were mutually exclusive. Whenever AK went through the shop the customers would
make faces or pass comments about his tattoo and his friend circle. All customers were people
of that town and so were familiar to my uncle. One particular day one of the customer in a
sarcastic way said long hair looks great but why your daughter wear guys clothes. That triggered something in my uncle and he called the barber that evening and asked him to cut AK’s hair short. I was there and I could not believe he never resisted, When I asked him he said he will answer in his own way.

Near the house there was a lane with video game shops, tea, etc. where all teenagers used to
hangout to smoke cigarettes. We were friends with all shopkeepers there, one in particular was
as opium addict barber. I loved that old man, he was a rare variety. He loved us and we used to
talk a lot. It was always nonsense what he said. One day he said if all opium addicts can be
organized in a political party, we can take over the country. I said that is a wonderful idea. He
also told me his plan to bring barbers into organized sector, have a union, increase haircut
rates, have a barber license. He also talked about a state of the art haircutting school, first of its
kind in the town. But then he said he won’t remember all this and it was my duty to remind him
once he gets elected. I used to agree.

Coming back to the main story, my cousin went to him and asked him to shave his hair
completely, now in India a guy shaves a head completely only if his father dies. For moment
that opium addict came to his senses and asked “what has happened, is his father dead” , my
cousin said don’t bother and just do as he says. This sounds funny but completely shaving the
head when the father is still alive was a big deal. When we went home, his father looked, his mother looked and the customers also looked. They did not say anything at least in front of me but I knew for sure the relation between father and son would never be same again. A small judgmental comment from an outsider created difference between a dad and a son. It is difficult to stop judging people, whoever is different than us our subconscious like to judge him. The only thing we can do is tell us from time to time that there is always a reason why someone is like the way he or she is.

In earlier time humans used to judge their neighbors and relatives. As globalization increased now we judge race, religion, and countries. There is nothing black and white in this world, everything is grey. No fight is a just fight and no love is pure. If a person or a society behave a particular way there is always a reason to do that. I am not saying that if someone beats your dog for entertainment, don’t judge him. That is sufficient reason to judge the person. I am saying never judge someone for futile reasons or before giving a chance to the person to explain. Finding victims of our judgement may feel good but it is detrimental to the society.

Find Your Passion - Toastmasters Speech

Many of you must have heard that do what you love and you will not have to work another day in your life. There is no lack of people advising to follow your passion and it sounds great too. First time I was introduced to this idea was when I was 8-9, actually it was not for me but for my much older cousin. I still remember the day vaguely, we were in my aunt house and drinking tea (not me, I was made to drink milk at that age). They were contemplating whether my cousin should choose a career in medical or engineering. She was advised to follow her passion and then asked is her passion in engineering or medical (given 2 options)

Nevertheless I was extremely happy that I learned about a secret key that will setup my life for
success. But now the difficult part came which nobody discussed during that tea meeting. I did not
know what my passion was and where to look for. I was told you cannot figure out passion just by
thinking what your passion is, you need to try out things before you know what you like. I was like –
yes that makes sense.

Some told me passion is something you like to do a lot, some said passion is something you cannot
live without, some said you will automatically know when you find it. Now I was set on a long and
tiresome journey to find my passion. At that young age I almost came to a conclusion that I really like
food and maybe eating is my passion. But then I thought naah that does not sound cool, and it was
more of a body requirement. I was not alone in finding my passion, my parents tried to introduce me
to a variety of activities to find my passion. (dance lessons, guitar, painting, soccer etc). I used to
suck in painting and dancing and guitar. So I was left with soccer, and I started to like it. Used to go
daily, did not miss a training session, But after 6-7 months my interest was fading, my game was not
improving, major reason was that all of soccer greatest players at that time were short, It was a
general consensus that the shorter the height the lower your centre of mass and better balance while
dribbling. That may or may not be true but my mind gave me an excuse why I was not improving and
that it was alright. I used to go but did not push myself enough to improve my game instead I had
developed a new interest – which actually needed very less effort. With some of my like minded
friends after our practice we used to stay to watch the girls team play. I started to bunk more of my
games to just sit and watch the girls play. To my defence we used to watch them in an appreciating
sense. I was smart enough to conclude watching women can not be a passion.

After that I have had a lot of different passion - all of which died early, from poetry, being a writer, a
movie critique n many more. At one time, I used to go to theaters alone with a pen and a notepad. I
have had some strange looks, people just could not digest the idea that anyone can come to a
theater alone. It is actually alright, no shame in that. But there was nothing I could continue more than
a few months.

After a few failure I decided to try a different approach in finding my passion, a more calculative
approach. I thought why not use a checkmark based quantitative method to find my passion. It is a
pretty good method and anyone can try it.
Asked yourself three questions: 
1) You like doing a certain activity today, but will you like doing it for the next 5-10 years ?
2) If money was out of the equation, would you still do it for free?
3) Is this more enjoyable that other activities you do?
If the answer to all these questions is yes, then congratulations but you still have not figured out your
passion.

The problem is passion is not a plan, it is a feeling, and feelings pass. Even there is research that in 4
years humans attraction tends to change for their love partners, so how can we remain attracted to a

certain activity all our life. Going back to our search for passion, I still have not find my passion and
don't think I ever will.
Now before you start throwing stuff at me, let me tell you something that happened a few years back..
I was introduced to badminton many times during my child hood. I could play it well but never liked
the game.

I played it again during my masters studies in college. I have a friend who really is a good badminton
player, which I did not know before. I never liked the game but I was never a bad player. So I thought
maybe I can beat him or at least give a good fight. The first time I played I lost badly (more than 17
points in a 20 point game). That really hurt my ego and I decided no matter what I will beat him one
day. I started to play the game every other day with a goal to get better, sometimes 4-5 hours without
rest. I started putting in effort - push my muscle to jump higher for better smash, always keeping my
body in momentum. Googled some techniques. I improved quickly, and the same game which I never
liked, I stared to enjoy. Though I still cannot beat my friend but now I come close. It is rightly said -
Success fuels passion more than passion fuels success.
So what actually happened ?

I believe there is a threshold in all activities, you have to clear a certain level to start enjoying it. It is
true for anything, any activity physical or mental. Even a subject like math, though it is very difficult to
have passion for pure sciences. We learn math to score or just because it is the stepping stone for
other subjects. A passionate mathematician will try to understand why anything divided by 0 is
undefined and not infinity OR why a factorial of 0 is 1. Once a person clear that threshold only then a
subject like math can become so interesting to eventually go for a PHD or a doctorate in it. The idea
is to go deep in that respective activity.

This threshold is like starting a water turbine, to start it we need a strong force but once it is in motion,
the momentum keeps it rotating even with a little force. So next time you want to try something, try it
with full effort and clear that threshold and you will develop something that can be called as passion.
Passion is not a job, a sport, or a hobby. It is the full force of your attention and energy that you give
to whatever is right in front of you. And if you're so busy looking for this passion, you could miss
opportunities that can change your life.

The Expedition of a Dangerous Mind

Born to a well-educated and well-off couple he always considered himself a child prodigy. There was no dearth of anything in his life, almost everything he asked for was arranged. He was intelligent and it was easy to score good in studies. He made no friends and he never liked to socialize. He was not an introvert, he just did not like anyone. As he grew he became less and less interested in materialistic things. He never liked to ride motorbikes, watch movies, play or even go out with girls. He just loved to read books - history, psychology, autobiographies and others. He never participated in discussions that other students of his age were passionate about. He knew he was different but never expressed it to others.

In no time he was big enough to understand this defiled world, its social disorders, the various class divisions based on castes, religion, money, and power. He was apathetic to these problems but wanted to know more about them. With age his disgust towards this world grew more. He loathed the poor as much as he loathed the rich, loathed the higher caste as much as he loathed the lower caste. He loathed everything - his family, relatives, and the so called friends. He considered normal people dead weight on this world.

     

As years passed, he completed his high school and got admission in an IIT. Even there he liked nothing but he understood that he has to be more sociable to achieve something significant in his life. In his sophomore year, he read history of India after independence. He was inspired by the movements led by common people like J.P. Narayan and V.P. Singh. He never idolized these leaders, what he idolized were these movements, these uprisings. Now he was setting his eyes on his goal and he reckoned that very society and the common folks he loathed, will help him to achieve it.

     

He started socializing more. First he made friends, then followers. He knew there would be many to oppose him but he also knew there will be some who will follow him. This was only to prove to himself what he can achieve.

The absurdness of his thoughts were growing more and more. After IIT he took a job in a famous steel company but soon left to pursue his big goal. He was a smart player, he was building strong credentials that will help him later to achieve his aim. He cleared Civil services next and worked as an IRS officer for a few years and build strong connections.

Now he was more focussed, the peak was far and journey difficult but it has to be difficult, else anyone could have achieved what he aimed for. Everything around him was becoming more and more mundane. Though he always longed but there was no adrenaline rush, no hunger in him. He started loathing everything even more. Even the sex was without foreplay or any other games, it was just to have kids and to remind his wife, from time to time, that he was her husband.

His thoughts were guiding him. When there was noise he wished for silence, in deep silence he wished for chaos. He hated everything that was going around and he promised himself to change it. It did not matter to him if the world was going towards progress or recess, he just wanted to change it. He knew he will require help of the same dumb people whom he loathed and they will support him. He knew it, it had occurred before and it will happen again. He knew they will help and they will follow him. People are cowards and if they feel you are stronger than them, they will follow you. He knew this principle.

   

He never believed in social service but began working for social causes and help the society. He was a smart guy, he knew that but what he did not know was that a bigger  portion of his was being controlled by his mind and he was nothing but a product of his thoughts now.

   

And then the time came he was waiting for. A famous anti-corruption crusader began a revolution against corruption in the heartland of India i.e. Lutyens Delhi, against the central government and he, due to his strong credentials, became the second in command of this revolution. The revolution was a success and he made a name for himself in no time. He never believed in the protest because he loathed the corrupt guys as much as the anti-corrupt ones. No one got a hint what he was up to, not even the anti corruption crusader. He himself knew what he was up to but he never knew what his disturbed mind is capable of doing.

     

Thoughts are what a man's reasons are based upon. We need to face them to be reasonable. But his thoughts were making everything vague for him, he could  not differentiate between calliphony and cacophony, between elegance and ugliness. He was always an egocentric guy but when he turned into an egomaniac, he never knew.      

   

This need to face his thoughts to be reasonable was becoming difficult day by day. His thoughts turned his life into a train travelling at a constant speed, never stopping at any station, never boarding any passenger, never letting any passenger leave, just going on and on. There is only one emergency exit to this kind of train - an everlasting lunacy and he took it.

 

At this stage he was doing all that was needed for the "BIG GOAL". He knew the public is frustrated, corruption is at its zenith. A normal guy hates everything - every political party, the current system, the police, administration, even the person next to him. Give them something packed in the wrapper of hope and then you can even lead them to chaos. He just wanted to use this hatred for his "BIG GOAL".

   

Strengthening his resolve further, he entered politics. All he needed now was to revolt - protest on streets, get beaten up by the police, bring in the media. He knew that it is the media alone who turns a common man into a celebrity overnight and he played them well. With the help of the same people whom he loathed, he turned himself a hero among the middle class. His followers increased from hundreds to thousands to millions.

 

He had no hero but he was infatuated by the uprising made by a single man at the time of independence. Sometimes he felt why was he not born 50 years earlier, but it did not matter now. His time will come and it will come fast, he knew.

 

His actions were not aimed at the betterment of the society or to remove evil. It was because he liked it, it got his blood pumping, gave an adrenaline rush he always craved for. He was not fooling the common people, the common people were always fools in his eyes. It was for the "BIGGER GOAL". It was not for power, or money, or even social welfare that he entered politics, it was something completely different from what a common man thinks, it was for the nirvana he wanted to achieve.

 

After a very long and difficult fight, he contested in the elections and won. No one knows what his "BIG GOAL" really is, that is something which will be revealed in years to come. So sit tight people, it is the starting of a very long bumpy roller coaster ride.

P.S. - This is a work of fiction and does not  relate to any person living or dead.

YE JAWAANI HAI Q-TIYAPA

Yesterday I went to watch 'Ye Jawaani Hai Deewani'. Don't get any wrong impression. My intentions were perfectly clear - to enjoy the movie if it is good else write this blog. A third grade whiskey in a new expensive bottle may confuse a novice but not the alcoholics.   

Starting is always difficult while writing a review. Let's show some respect to elders and start with them - Madhuri Dixit. Madhuri meets Ranbir while performing an item number in a red light area of Agra. Who calls her an Item nowadays I suspect. Mr Ranbir Kapoor (Bunny) is working with some foreign journalists as an intern. He is hired to persuade the girls in the brothel to answer the journalists (how many kids you have, what about the life here etc kind of questions). In reality who hires an intern to get some answers in a brothel. For 100 INR the girl in a brothel will draw for you her full family tree. But movies are movies. Ranbir immediately gets the opportunity to be in the lead opposite to Madhuri in the item number using some random absurd senseless poetry. 

The tough part to digest is the hall in which the item number is being performed. The hall is big, there are around 50-60 side dancers and twice more the spectators. What is such a hall doing in a brothel is tough to understand. It is Agra and not Greece. Divide it into some rooms and give the side dancers and spectators some personal space, it will be fantastic for the brothel business. 

The main story begins with Naina Talwar (Deepika Padukone), a Punjabi girl with a boring life and orthodox parents. In the whole movie it is impossible to get a Punjabi touch in Deepika's role. If you cannot get into character you cannot be a good actor (though being Punjabi has nothing to do with the movie plot). Well it is  India, if you are getting something for free why work hard for it. Coming back to track Deepika after instantly realizing what a shitty life she is living decides to go on a trekking expedition to Khirsu Pass, Manali. She does the booking using Make My Trip but is not able to get a seat in the train at the end time, that's anti advertising for Make My Trip. At this moment Ranbir helps her out by saying ' she can sleep with me ' ( what a great comment to a girl whose name he do not remember, they were in same school ) The main problem is how a studious, alone, introvert girl agrees to go with a guy making vulgar comments. Cool society. Ranbir also gives the idea to  Trip Coordinator from Make My Trip to give the TC a 100 Rs note. This depicts Make My Trip also supports corruption. The dialogues are senselessly written with some cheapness and  vulgarity to make up for the humor part. At a point Naina asks Ranbir what about kids if he will never marry, he replies ' who needs to marry to have kids, we can have them right now, I also know how to make twins ' I doubt even Mr. Genghis Khan knew how to make twins. At their interaction Ranbir uses some senseless and boring tricks to get acquainted with Deepika for eg. oh aaaan  Ayesha we met in some xy's party, oho sorry Geetanjali some xy's cousin. Mr. Writer if you want to make such cheap tricks please put some logic in it and use common Indian girls name like Aarti, Ankita, Swati etc.

The treks organised by Make My Trip are fantastic, I will give that to them. You have an unlimited amount of booze, some very beautiful girls and a plus point is that if their looks competes with their dumbness the latter is the winner and who do not like beauty with no brains. They have a make up crew with you free of cost from Make My Trip so that the make up, hairs, clothes looks fresh and new every day. The gender ratio in Make My Trip trekking expeditions is cool too and favours girls in higher number. Really I was not able to spot guys there, it were girls all around. For all the above mentioned points I strongly recommend Make My Trip to my fellow Indian boys.

In the trek Ranbir reveals that he loves trekking, trekking is his life while he gets almost defeated in a race to a nearby peak with Deepika ( her life's first trek ). Dude you should work hark for your life. I believe the script writer wanted to write the experiences of  his trek and convert it into a movie. But he got into a wrong production house - DHARMA PRODUCTIONS. In Dharma Productions it is compulsory to add a love story, some disturbances among friends and families, some heart breaks, very expensive clothes which does not matter where you are, lots of make up which holds every time  - before sleeping and after sleeping, six to seven songs with no connection to the movie's plot and after these prerequisites the main story. And if the script writer wrote this script on purpose then he should be the one to get shamed in our national capital. 

The movie is full of boring scenes, hard to listen than to watch, even more hard is to make out their importance. There is a very pathetic scene where Ranbir, Deepika and their two friends are running from local goons in Manali. The scene is tried to be depicted as a humorous run and chase like in Tom and Jerry show but it's a big fail. Their are some dialogues with very poor philosophy integrated with them. Some double meaning cheap jokes on which only cheap people will laugh. These dialogues are given majorly to Ranbir to make it easy for the audience to guess who is the lead actor in the movie. The songs are dull with some very poor lyrics. The only good song is ' Badtameez Dil ' which is shown in the trailers and nicely choreographed  but please do not get swayed by the trailer that is only the whiskey bottle. 

At the beginning Deepika is shown a boring, dull girl who wears Kurtis and tops to neck level, wears high power spectacles. At the end of the trek she is quite confident and her specs are gone too. All thanks to Mr. Ranbeers vulgar dialogues and cheap jokes. He also gives her the power to read at night during the trek which he himself can easily do. At the last day while returning from the trek the guys wakes up from a bus and starts dancing to celebrate Holi festival. They continues dancing and singing  from the morning till night. The scene is quite colorful, there is gulal (color) everywhere in the air, in road, in swimming pool, who the hell paid for all that is not shown. Also why the local public is dancing around our lead characters and giving them the central spot is unanswered. At the end of this heroic dance Deepika fells in love with Ranbir but do not express her feelings because Ranbir is going to US to study journalism on a scholarship. What does a foreign masters program has to do with expressing your love to someone I do not understand. 

This is the end of the first part and almost the end for this blog. I am too much confused why they made the second half.  There is some sentimental drama among friends, between Deepika and Ranbir as they meet after 8 yrs. One strong change for sure is in Deepika's personality. In the second part she is much more confident, do not wear spectacles, laughs, jokes around and outrageously reveals two inches of her cleavage in almost every scene in the second part. Seeing the cleavage Ranbir also falls in love with her and understands how important is relationships, family, friends with respect to his dreamed life career. So he decides to leave the chance to host a TV show in Paris and comes to Deepika. 

The movie sucks big time. If we remove the fat and short guy from the movie Cocktail ( yes the same guy who converts into a superhuman when he participates in any race ) then it can win an Oscar with respect to Ye Jawaani Hai Deewani.

The Last Voyage

 

It was almost time. The air was fresh and clean. The front sky looked calm with light orange colour on its lower portion and white on its upper. The Sun was playing hide and seek and the clouds were assisting it to achieve its purpose. It was a beautiful sight. I believe I deserved that much.

I looked to the river flowing deep down and quickly drew away my eyes. The more I looked down the more my mind took control of my body. But I knew it was needed to be done. The valley was around 200 meters deep but it looked much more than that. The river was full of big and small boulders but it was hard to estimate the depth. I could not hear the water flowing but it appeared violent and savage.

My mind was forcing me not to do it but I was too close to back out. I knew it had to be done, it was the only option and the right thing to do. ' Keep calm and focused, It will all be over soon ', I told myself. It was a firmly made decision and backing out was not an option. I should have talked with my family but it was too late now to do it.

The wind was not fast but cold enough to make my whole body shiver. It felt like a hundred ice arrows piercing my body together. It was the cold or the fear that was dominating me I could not distinguish. Far away an eagle was circling round and round most probably closing on its prey.  I was not able to see the poor animal but could feel its fear. In an instant the deep valley looked like a huge eagle racing towards me to swallow me. ' Huh ', I thought ' The valley cannot move, It has to be me to do it ' . The air was clean and fresh still my lungs were denying it easy entry. It feels odd when each part of your body sings a different song. They were not in my control I knew that much.  My mind was shouting,  'You don't want to do it, please don't do it my friend '. 

I could feel the weight on my legs as never before. It was impossible to lift them. It looked as if the gravitation pull has increased ten folds. In my childhood I have dreamed to have wings, to fly like a bird, to fly and be one with the sky. But now my legs were resisting as if they were not my part. They have clung to the ground as a child clings to his mother's breast. But I knew it had to be done. I have to overcome the fear, and be in control of my mind and body.

The day was late but there was enough light to see down to the river. My mind was running fast trying to control me and simultaneously placing different memories and thoughts before me. ' It will not be easy ', I told myself but I knew what was needed to be done to do it. I let go of all these thoughts, let go of all the people I have loved, let go of all the moments I have ever cherished, let go of all the things I have liked, let go of all the memories I hold close to my heart. Then brought forward the pain, the grief I have ever felt, and became one with despair. This gave way to the life energy settled deep down in me, and it rose. I could feel it. This life energy from the darkest part of my heart was exactly what I needed to do it.

Now it was time. I could not hear my mind no more, I was completely blank, no thoughts, no memories. I felt nothing now, no sound, no cold. Even the eagle was gone. And then I jumped. 

The Last Resort in Nepal is in top 10 list of best places for bungee jumping in the world. It is 160 meters long with a 100 meters of free fall. It was hell of an adventure and everyone should try it at least once. Most part in the last paragraphs are bullshit. Well I like to shit, actually everybody enjoys shitting whatever time of the day it may be. There is nothing like life energy and no one can let go what I wrote that easily, it's not in our hands. Actually there is not much time to think about anything at the time of jump, it's just 1,2,3 jump. Either you jump or you don't. If you jump then you will understand what true fear is in the first 2-3 seconds. The last part was also interesting when the bungee was over and I was hanging upside down around 40 meters above the river.

She was cold

I thought it was dawn. The sun looked like a vague golden ball hanging in a light blue coloured sea which was defying the gravitation laws hanging upside down. It was mud and water all around and very little traces of concrete road to be seen beneath it. It must have rained heavily the previous night. But how could I have known. I am a deep sleeper and my dreams are as real as dreams can be.

        

It was early yet I could see some figures on the pavement. As I approached I saw some men chatting at the side of the road. They had covered themselves with worn out blankets and a burning fire near them. I assumed they were homeless poor beggars. People with filled belly the previous night do not usually wake up at such a time and such cold.

I went to sneak in. There were five of them. Their faces were pale and hands weak. They had black cups near them with upper part twice as broad as the base. As I closed in I saw some round shaped metal coins in it. The light was still too dim to count how much was in there. I sat near the fire for sometime. One of them gave me a disgusted look, the other four took no notice of me as if I was not there. They did not ask even for money or food from me. That made me curious. After 5-10 minutes I went down the side alley.

    

There were more beggars on the other side. Walking down the other side of the road I felt a slight pain in my front leg. May be I was too perplexed that it did not incur to me before. I was sure it was completely a new place to me. As I moved I saw more burning wood and people shivering but I was not feeling the same cold. As I looked up in the sky, it was a beautiful sight and it had covered most part of the northern sky. It was as if a very big multicoloured  star had moved from its place in the sky and left its coloured trajectory behind it.    

As I moved on I saw more people here and there, old, young, weak, kids and other. Some were talking about the cold, some about rain last night, some about something other. I could hear them all, even the distant ones, I could even hear them breathe the cold chilly air as it went inside their lungs and came out as white as snow. Was I high on weed I could not tell. I should not be hearing all that stuff. The blood was racing up my brain to lubricate it but it was not working normal. I was in a dilemma. I could not say where I was. I could not recall how I arrived in that area. I tried hard but it was not coming to me.

     

Then in a sudden instant it came, the cold scent, the frail sobbing voice, but no one around seemed distracted. Maybe they had not heard it. The smell intrigued as well as frightened me. The hairs on my neck stood straight up. The scent and voice were vague but call it instinct or whatever I knew what it was. It was the scent of death.

      

I sniffed my way towards the scent and ran. I ran fast, faster, the fastest I have ever known I was capable of. When  did I learn to run so fast I could not remember.

      

It took around a minute before I reached the source. I saw figures on the footpath. As I closed in, a man was lying on the ground and people were sitting and standing around him. A women in mid 20’s was sitting near the upper part of the lying man, sobbing and cursing. I could easily hear her. She was cursing her gods that they did not save her husband from the white witch. She was telling other people that the white witch killed her husband.

     

She told them that the white witch was after her husband for many days. Her husband has seen her often in the area. The dead body of her husband was pale and white as ice, the lips turned a little blue, cheeks shrank and wrinkles could be seen in infinity in the pale skin. The area  around the eyes had turned dark and little and the eyes looked as they have bulged out from their sockets. It was a grievous death I concluded. Could it be the work of a witch I wondered but whatever she was, she was cold.

         

Now more men came in and women started to cry and support the dead man’s wife. The wife told them that the witch was still there somewhere, smiling and content with her prey for now but she will not stop and more will be dead soon. The husband and herself were successful in evading her for many nights but last night her husband yielded to the white witch. She told that the witch never left them. She was all around and her power increases at night as the dark spreads. Her husband had seen her smiling with a crooked teeth many times, going near him, around him and through him. She would give him shivers. Her husband often told her that the dark was a companion of the witch and they should be watchful at night. Could her story be true. Could such a terrible force exist I thought, but whatever she was, she was cruel.

         

The wife started cursing the gods even more and now she had started cursing other people that no one came to help them. What homeless people would have done against such a mighty force I could not understand. She was crying and speaking at the same time. It was not clear but still I was able to understand some part of it. Her husband and she had evaded the white witch using fire. The witch was afraid of fire her husband had said. The witch had many weapons and many companions and the only armour the deceased had was a worn out blanket and only weapon was the burning wood but still they fought against such a dreadful power until last night when it rained. The white witch called her companion. It rained heavily and it increased her power. The rain took their weapon, the burning fire, from them and then took her husband’s life. I thought  rain was considered as a god. Why would it help a merciless witch? The wife was crying that she will kill her too and many more till she sleeps. Then at last it came to me what she was. She was cold, she was winter.

           

The wife’s face was pale and tears had now dried leaving dark traces on her pale face. I do not know why but I felt a guilt about her dead husband. Her cries now were unbearable but still I could not move and then I heard a weak sound slowly becoming strong and moving close. The sound made my mind cloudy and then I woke up.

         

Now to see the situation rationally, many homeless people die due to cold in north India.  Around 78 million homeless people are ill equipped to face the cold weather conditions. The death toll last year was 140 and we boast India is growing and call ourselves a developing nation. These deaths can be prevented therefore stop fucking your money on Salman Khan movies and distribute some blankets to the homeless on your birthdays and don’t wait for the Indian government. Their blankets will take many years to reach to the needful ones.

BE DUMB BE HAPPY

Yesterday I discovered that another of my friend has quit his job. It has been six months since we passed  from our college and it was my third friend to do so.

People change and try different jobs, its not something new but leaving a job with a  handsome salary package without the guarantee of another job is not sensible. At first I thought so but after a discussion about the extravagant accomplishment of my friends my views regarding their quitting changed. I am not a gullible person, and I did see sense in their doing.

Lack of challenging work, boring environment, uncompetitive colleagues, these are some reasons which can make a job suck but the main reason they gave me was frustration. For many people these kind of jobs can be dream jobs. After talking to them I discovered the more sensible reason to it,  people just cannot belong to a place where they do not belong. The main reason was they deserve more compared to what their jobs offered. The main reason was they were smarter compared to what their jobs asked for. The main reason was the lack of feel good factor while working.

Their reasons are valid, it's really tough when you are around people whose thinking don’t match with yours, who do not share your sense of humor, whose jokes make you cry, who seriously predicts about "BIGG BOSS" next episode in groups at office hrs and you cannot avoid listening. Now to give it a thought these all problem are existing because they are not happy or because they are not as dumb as it is required to be happy . To be more precise it would be right enough to say that to be happy one should put more weight on the dumber character of your life see-saw.

Being dumb has many advantages as compared to being smart. You should note here dumb and smart are not necessarily related to your educational qualification or your brilliance in academics.

Now lets talk why is it not tough for dumbers to be happy. First off all dumb people lack the resources to identify the aim and problem of life. Life is too subtle for them to understand and therefore they are happy where ever they are. The lesser the desires that need to be  fulfilled the more you are happier. It is tough for dumb people to think more, and less you think the less you desire.

When dreams shatter we get depressed but what if we do not dream those specific dreams that have a potential to get shattered or lets say we confine our dreams, we restrict our dreams. It is said dreams are like water colorless and dangerous, free flowing and we cannot control them. It's true, though we can confine it, that is where the geniusness of a dumb character comes to play. Suppose you don’t have ever known that airplanes existed, never seen never heard, in such a scenario do you think there is slightest of probability you can dream about an airplane, no you cannot. We cannot dream about something that is not in our mind. Same is the case with dumb people they don’t know enough to desire more and  therefore they are content and happy. Do not take these statements in a negative sense, it is always good to dream, I just want to prove here not dreaming what you do not know is also always good.

         
Now lets talk about the other advantages of dumbers over real smart people besides being happy. First  is dumb people are never taken seriously whatever they say or do and normally other people consider them to be in a ‘ NO THREAT ZONE ‘. They take them too dumb to create risk for anybody. Dumb people can enjoy in the company of both other dumb and smart people though vice versa is not true. Even if they don’t understand the discussion among smart people, it always brings a feel good factor  to be a part of discussion that goes dodging to your brain capacity. Dumb people can laugh almost at any joke, if its a less witty joke than you can laugh whole heartedly and if it is a good joke than its ROFLMAO for you. By chance if  you don’t get  the joke than its a brainstorming exercise for you. If you are dumb you can easily enjoy almost all Bollywood movies except by Mr Ram Gopal Verma (he is completely on a different level).

       
Dumbers has some real rewarding advantages also. Girls normally prefer dumb guys as their boyfriends or spouses. The are some reasons, first intellectually girls find dumb men easier to handle, they prefer to be in the lead and dominating role in the relationship and lastly if they wish to go flinging around with other men its easier with a dumb partner at their side.

         
Parents also love their dumber children more, though they don’t show it in public , but it's the truth. Have you ever heard 'that dumb guy made a life' its always 'that smart guy made his life'. Dumb guys life is made by their parents. The main reason is dumb people actually never mature and parents want their children to always be their 'children'. Dumb people are never bored, their mind are always busy with something as there is so much to understand and their pace of understanding is slow.

           
Now at the end I would like to give some tips on how to become DUMB.

1. Start watching movies made by Shirish Kunder (most effective will be Tees Maar Khan and Joker).

2. Make Raghu Ram (the bald guy from Roadies) your ideal in life.

3. Make yourself believe that you like Twilight Saga.

4. Start playing FB games like city ville and farm ville.

5. Read this blog frequently, it will keep your passion to become or remain dumb always blazing