The Diary

Monday, December 29, 2014

A cliched post on 5 things that I learnt in 2014

1. Maturity:
Sensitiveness towards trivial issues, expectations, attachments thrown down the drain; this year has definitely made me majestically more mature. Credit goes to people for whom this line by Owl Cities makes perfect sense: "With friends like these, who needs an enemy?"
After all, nobody owes you, nobody owns you and vice versa (except family, of course).

2. Teaching kids:
People who say "those who can't do, teach" are morons. They say so without experience. It's a challenge to introduce people who don't speak a single common word as you to something, anything new. We almost lost our patience when we had to teach children from rural Laos English but some dancing and singing did help. So it was all work and all play! But the end results were wonderful, especially when I saw this kid chanting "How are you? I am fine." in English as he did somersaults on the playground.

3. Indian food is the best (says everyone):
Earlier, whenever I used to go out, I used to strictly avoid Indian food. Who wants to eat routine Indian stuff when they are dining in a restaurant, right? But apparently, no amount of pizzas and pastas, burgers and steaks, satays and sushis, noodles and dumplings are going to satiate you like a plate of chicken malai tikka and a bowl of rasmalai does. During my internship in a Germany-based company too I was pleasantly surprised to see the Germans queue up almost everyday at the Indian stall. Bharat Mata ki Jai!

4. How to complete your Masters like a pro:
Juuuuust kidding! I struggled more than ever during my Master's course but as they say, there is light at the end of a tunnel and every dark cloud has a silver lining. I graduated with average grades, gained plenty of technical knowledge and experience from the power engineering course, a service learning trip to Laos thereafter and an internship before landing into my first job as a researcher.

5. Definition of broke:
All this while I have ignored the internet definition of 'broke': "when you have too much month left at the end of your money." Now I truly know what 'broke' means.

Now that 2014 is almost over, I've lost no weight (gained some, in fact), hardly traveled, saved no money and most definitely haven't found love (nor have I searched this year :P ). But one thing is for sure: I've learnt a million things, the above 5 being the most significant.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Ten Terribly Tiny Tales- Part 2

'Home'
Where is home?
It's where you were born.
It's where you now live.
It's where your forefathers have built a house.
WRONG WRONG ALL WRONG,
It's where your Mom is.

'Truth'
He completes the source code in a jiffy,
He has blue eyes,
He plays football,
He is chivalrous,
But the Truth?
He is a poor substitute.

'Friends'
Adults, yet mentality of infants,
Didn't speak a word to each other,
For two whole years,
But somebody had to give in, right?
After all, they were friends.

'Fate'
Small town boy, with a good eye, then,
World renowned photographer now,
"What's the secret of your success?" they ask.
He smiles and says with unwavering humility, "Fate!"

'Dawn'
Will it ever dawn on you?
That filth is not outside, but within,
That you're not as perfect as you think you are,
That you have no enemies but are intensely disliked by your friends,
Well I think it's time, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

'Mirror'
'Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who's the fairest of them all?', asked MJ.
The mirror replied, 'You racist! Don't you know?
It doesn't matter if you're black or white.'

'Night'
She said, "The night is dark and full of terror."
He said, "The night is young and full of splendor."
A nuptial bond, a house and two children is what they shared.
But a common interest, never ever!

'Beautiful'
That day will be your happiest,
When a man you love doesn't say,
"You look beautiful."
But, "you are beautiful."
Even the thought made Gita blush for one straight hour.

'Spirit'
"Oh holy spirit, come and enter the coin",
they chanted as they placed their fingers on the Ouija board,
Little did they know, that they were entering their doom,
And the spirit wasn't holy.

'Lipstick'
Mom told her,
"Isn't it high time to be just a little lady-like?
Let me buy you some red lipstick."
She casually mumbled,
"But all I want is a red hockey stick."

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Vapid

Of all the sorts of OCDs I suffer from terminally, the obsession with a particular word over a period of time is most affecting me of late. I get on everyone's nerves (and even my own) using the same word time and again, sometimes in every sentence, and even though, it's excessively annoying, people laugh a tad bit at this addiction. I'm still getting over the word 'dubious'. You see, it describes everything around me and happening to me often - my thesis results, my job prospects, the food I eat, my relations with friends, the glances that I get sometimes from random people in public places are currently at an extremely 'dubious' state. Holy molly, I love the word 'random'. Random people. Random songs. Random curry puffs. Random babies. You do realize that I'm randomly adding the adjective 'random' in front of random words.

Be that as it may, my current obsession is with the word 'vapid'. The dictionary defines it as dull, uninteresting, bland, insipid, etc. But can you really define what's vapid or who's vapid? Can you really put a label on what's interesting and what isn't? E.g. this post might be extremely vapid to many but quite the opposite to the others. Vapidness lies in the minds of the beholder really! How do you define an interesting person? Some may feel it's a person who likes to travel the world, who prefers an adrenaline rush during an adventure sport to a cup of coffee with a friend on a Sunday. But the very same things might be consider as a cover-up for having a boring personality. Ok, maybe I have a vapid personality then ;). Some may feel partying hard, bowling, getting sloshed are the ultimate ways to be deemed non-vapid. Some might prefer an interesting conversation or a good book to that. Most individuals might find geeks vapid. But they don't do vapid things, they do interesting things in a vapid circumstance or environment. There also is a myth that those who are unique are actually interesting. However, being different is not always being interesting. Take Luna Lovegood for example: excessively weird and excessively vapid. So next time you generalize the term vapid, think again. Loquacious extroverts can also be extremely vapid and so can incisive introverts. It all depends on your perspective.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Revenge is my middle name

An eye for an eye, I tell you! Suddenly I feel a humongous pang to seek revenge, like the devil inside me just burst out. Don't ask me what, don't ask me why, just trust me on this one- Revenge is always, I repeat, always better than forgiveness! Here are 5 reasons why:

1) It's just too sweet: Ah, the craving, it just doesn't fade, does it? However forgiving a person you are, the mental satisfaction you acquire as soon as this dish called revenge is served cold is absolutely impeccable. No amount of guilt can overbear this sweet, satiating feeling!

2) Let us be fair: You might tell me "life isn't fair!" But justice comes to those who seek it!

3) It helps you move on: I've had fights with friends many million times, and I proudly proclaim that I'm a pugnacious moron. And if fights don't resolve things, they definitely aid you in moving on with life.

4) Self-esteem rebuilt: People have called it ego, hence I let things go, in the past! But a person without a backbone might as well be a slug! Bleh!

5) They always come around, they always do: Forgiving and forgetting gives people chances to make the same mistake repeatedly. Vengeance makes them realize it, apologize and become a better person.

All I'm saying is, never ever intentionally hurt anyone, but if they do, punch them in the face, and never look back!

"Man cries, his tears dry up and run out. So he becomes a devil, reduced to a monster."- Kohta Hirano

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Ten terribly tiny tales

'Coffee'
Dark as a pit,
Bitter as neem leaves
Empty stomach, with a palpitating heart,
Coffee was her drug.

'Words'
Beautiful liar, that one,
Thought her looks could kill,
He was blind, she didn't know,
He fell for her words.

'Play'
Mother went to heaven - they said.
Hope she's back soon- said she and ran out.
The little one just wanted to play.

'Love'
Dejected by everyone,
School, college, university.
He didn't care.
He weighed 140 kilos, and in love, with food.

'Blood'
It's tomato sauce, they exclaimed.
He smiled and said, "Believe what you want."
It was blood, the artist wanted his 'bloody' Oscar.

'Chai'
'Assam' said Barman.
'Darjeeling' said Bhutia.
'Munnar' said Thomas.
'Illam' said Khatri.
Chai was a 'hot' topic.

'Forever'
How long is forever? - he asked.
Only a while. - she grinned.
That did it.

'Ink'
She loved all things bizarre,
'Cause she too was in a similar category,
Squid ink pasta was her favorite.

'Rose'
Roses should be banned,
pontificated the rude boy,
like his childhood home,
they had many pricks.

'Chocolate'
False teeth, 83, diabetes,
Rasogolla can take a hike,
She wants liquor chocolates.

Friday, February 7, 2014

The Best Friend

This is not just about a particular person, it's about all the best friends I have / I've had in life. They say, you should just have one! But when you're on the move every few years, it's hard to determine who's going to steal the show forever. I do have two such people who in all probability may make it till 'forever', though, Shiwangi and Swarnali. Now Shiwangi is the sweetest girl who has done me innumerable favors which I can't ever repay in life. We came to be friends about 7 years back and her position in my life has remained undeterred. With Swarnali, on the other hand, things are slightly twisted. My mother only recently came to know that we are best friends even though we've been so for more than 4 years and was flabbergasted beyond measure, as if I've hidden the darkest secret in my life all along. The reason: we have been at loggerheads with each other so many times, not spoken for months on end and judged each other like nobody's business. But we've also been through thick and thin, each other's partner-in-crime, in school, tuition or otherwise. And the greatest thing is, we've never really presented our 'mature adult' (if there IS any) self to each other till date. There have been others too who've momentarily coined/ been coined the term 'best friend'. The list is endless - Radhika, Meenakshi, Dibya, Sanjna, Yuhina, Meghna, Shreya Sharma, Prezona, Rounak, Satyam, Sabiha, Shaloma, Uttari, etc., etc. each of them situational BFFs and some, still cherished. Now, of all the pals I've made, why have only these few made it to the list is the big question? Now, who exactly is a best friend? Back in college, most of my hangouts have been with my roommate, among others. Yes, we've been good friends, still are. Many have pointed at her and asked, "She's your college BFF, right?" And each time all they heard was denial. They've pointed to Gauraang and exclaimed, "But he's your EE BFF, right?" Denial one more time. So, it doesn't matter how long you've known a person, how often you've hung out, how much you've not had fights or fall-offs, been in touch, the BFF or as it is in my case, BFFA (Best Friend for a while), can only be the one whom I personally am fond of the most, unconditionally. Because, despite 100 wrongs, they must have done something right!