Revisited.

Have you had a song continuously in playback during the time certain events were happening in your life, or with certain places you’d been to at that time, to the extent that you mentally co-relate that event/ place with the song? It’s not exactly Pavlov’s conditioning, but every time you hear that song now, you’re mentally in flashback to that time. Awesomement!

Welcome to today #1

So I happen to be at Infiniti Mall on 26-01. Some Republic Day celebration on the ground floor performing platform with patriotic songs and peppy numbers happening. They are asking random people to come up and dance on the platform.

For one of the turns that I happen to catch when coming down from Landmark, this 75 year old lady volunteers to dance. Yes, 75 year old lady. That happened to catch my attention and I bother to stand and watch.

So this lady comes up on stage, and the hostess (who was quite inexperienced, from the look of it) makes a good fool of herself, asking her stupid questions and then making the crowd cheer!

Anyway, that was still fine. My irritation is directed at the DJ! Some mid 20’s ka p(j)unk! I mean.. Here’s a aged lady there, wanting to dance, who you can safely assume would just do her simple graceful two steps, and therefore you can play any nice hindi number. He could have played “Mere desh ki dharti” for all it mattered yaar. He goes ahead and plays an english instrumental number which no one knew..! I mean, of all the songs, that was the only song in the world he had?! (Even the crowd was looking around confused!) The lady did not know for two minutes what was playing/ happening. She thought the song had not even begun. Then when she realized that WAS the song, she did her two steps so gracefully, and left (to a thundering applause), it was endearing to see.

Sometimes I seriously feel our generation is seriously retarted man. Jackasses!

Maximize your ‘I can’t take it anymore’ moment.

“Manu, understand this. Many a times in your life, you’ll face a ‘I can’t take it anymore’ moment. When you just can’t continue with the way things are.. It’ll keep on happening. Its not like it only happens once in your worklife, or personal life. It recurs. Especially in your career, you will often reach a dead end/ saturation. Whats very important is WHAT you do when you reach there. You have to maximize your ‘I can’t take it anymore’ moment! The only thing I can advise you is don’t go purely on impulse. Being young, you have a tendency to act on instinct. I’m not saying that’s wrong. But relax, pause and think about what you’re feeling for some time, and weigh your options carefully. And if you still feel what you want to do is the same, go ahead and do it. Whichever way you choose to go, you’ll never know whether the other choice would’ve been better, so its best you follow your gut, rather than what seems to be the wiser option”

Agreed, uncle.

iQuit

So, ten months after I knew that audit was not meant for me, or rather I was not meant for audit, I finally took the step. I really don’t know what took me that long, but I stuck around. Probably tempted by the fact that I was reviewing the supply chain of Hindustan Unilever Limited, but yes, one year through with Levers, having completed their chain ie Head Office (Profit Centre),  Branch, Factories, Depots, and outsourced payment cell, I finally did it.

It was phatte, the feeling of taking that decision. Like choosing for the first time (actually, not) your path, in a sense, where the decision was entirely yours. It felt nice to type the letter, very short though it was.

There were perks to the opportunity I had got, definitely. I mean if someone had told the lukha that I was in college am, that I could be reviewing the processes of the best FMCG company in India, and getting to roam India ‘phokat mein’, while I was at it, I would’ve jumped at it.

In the 10 whole months spent out of Bombay, spread over a year and 7 months in Khao Piyo Maaro Goli*, this is how I went

My travels with my erstwhile ann-daata

Bombay – Goa – Bombay – Kolkata – Dibrugarh – Kaziranga – Bombay – Kanpur – Sumerpur – Lucknow – Kolkata –Bombay – Vapi – Bombay – Gurgaon – Ghaziabad – Varanasi – Chandigarh – Amritsar – Bombay – Sasan – Noida – Bombay – Bangalore – Kolkata – Dibrugarh – Arunachal Pradesh – Bombay – Noida – Bombay * finally *

That would total almost 24 flights + 2 train journeys and a lot of car travel *phew*, some really really awesome places – Kaziranga, Brahmaputra, Arunachal, Khajuraho, Rani Falls, Howrah, Ganga, Yamuna, Akshardham and many many more, and awesome welcomes like these every now n then, you kn0w

The experience also introduced me to oh-so-professional-and-wonderful ‘corporate culture’ and fantastic people who truly recognize talent. So yeah not bad at all, huh!

But I needed to move on to something cooler. Something I will be more kicked about. Someplace where I know the product I’m selling, and I enjoy executing it. Someplace where I exploit my core strength, and definitely not crib about me not being excited about work.

What’ll that be, I don’t exactly know right now. But I hope to add zing to what I’m doing

..

..

Very very honestly, the journey from boyhood to manhood is THE most fantastic journey a guy undertakes in his life.

.. StoibI ..

—> To declassify one of my ‘Notes to myself’ written on 14th August 2007,

“I really am sick of the BMS course and everything to do with it. Just want to get over and done with it. I mean there’s just no motivation to it. Once you’ve figured out where you’re actually heading, you just want to jump onto the track, which is exactly what I want to do, but for the obvious problem of not knowing! I am not better than the rest. But then again, from now on, I don’t want to compare, for it really doesn’t matter!”

Point being: Had I seen 3 idiots two years ago, when I was still in college, going through the motions, I would’ve been overawed by the film. Barring Rajkumar Hirani’s tendencies to borrow from Munnabhai, and a few filmy duh moments, its very good, undoubtedly. Not perfect, but it puts across the message in a hilarious, nice enough way. But one and a half years out, in the rigmaroles of rozgaari, knowing and realizing day in and day out that you need to do your own, follow what you believe in, and keep walking, I just moved out of the theatre, sighed and walked it home.

“Confusion hi confusion hai, solution koi pata nahi,
Solution joh mila toh saala question kya tha pata nahi”

—> So Mohit Sureka decided to drop in home one night, at around 10.45. He was talking to mom, and then we sat talking in my room, till mom left the drawing room, and went to sleep. We got up from my room, made ourselves some coffee, and were sitting in the drawing room till 4 in the morning, chatting.

Next morning, my mother: Achcha toh kal raat 3 baje tak toh mujhe tum logon ki baatein sunai de rahin thii. Iska kya hua fir, Usne kya kiya fir. I had to open every kachcha chitha in front of her.
Me idiot.

Mental note: Always, always, ALWAYS make sure mother is out of earshot when talking.

—> Michael Schumacher is back..!!

—> Never keep new years resolutions, but have one for this year. Leh-Ladakh. Jaana hai. Jaana hai. JAANA HAI!

(Inn aankhon ki masti ke mastaane hazaaron hai. Mastaane hazaaron hai).

Go figure.

Oh and me likey.

Up next: iQuit

Drag..

“I like to think of a cigarette as fire held in a man’s hand. Fire, a dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips. I often wonder about the hours when a man sits alone, watching the smoke of a cigarette, thinking. I wonder what great things have come from such hours. When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind–and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression.”

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

A question there

Equations change, but they always return to equilibrium, albeit at a higher or lower level. Agreed.

Without giving the protagonists of the previous two posts any more importance I’ll just ask you a question. Do you think equations (of the heart) can be sought with rationale and logic?

Its difficult. Impossible perhaps, Kannu. The heart does not understand logic. It works on a principle that is solely its own. It beats wholly on its own. To that extent, it is disconnected from the whole of the body, and yet is very central to it! A brain dead person will continue to live. One whose heart stops dies. Very simple in its functioning, the heart. It either beats or it stops, it either likes or it does not, it either feels or it does not. Maybe that’s the beauty of it?

The heart will teach you patience the way no teacher can. It’ll teach you to take up a challenge the way no human can. Because the heart emotes, while the brain analyzes and anticipates. When you say ‘there are many forces at play’, these are all forces that are in your brain, possibly holding you back, or pushing you forward in anticipation, as the case may be. And when you talk about the ‘tragic romance’, it is you letting your heart take over. And I agree with what you wish to believe there, for what you feel is, fortunately or unfortunately, your and your feeling alone. It may or may not be reciprocated, or the entire thing might just be a play being enacted in your head. You’d not know. You will find it very difficult to sit down and let the forces in the head dictate the heart, and for that and that reason alone, what I talk about are not ‘my ideals’

I’ve, for quite some time now

I’ve, for quite some time now
wanted to write a post which actually captures my beliefs. I find it rather difficult, seeing it being questioned everyday.

I’ve, for quite some time now
wanted to pen intelligent poetry which nobody actually understands. I realise I’m unable to

I’ve, for quite some time now
wanted to write a hard yet simple story. I find myself trapped in cliches.

I’ve, for quite some time now
wanted to write a really funny post. I’ve a problem- My sense of humour :p

I’ve, for quite some time now
wanted to write intense intelligent stuff, which makes me seem vadde log. LOL!

I’ve, for quite some time now
wanted to write about classic artists and how superlative they are. I dont follow many

I’ve, for quite some time now
been making fun of myself

Man. I’m a loser!

Kaddi te hass bol ve. Na jind saddi dol ve
Tu aaja dil jaaniya. De kar meherbaaniyan
Na sanu teri rol ve. Na jind saddi dol ve.

Tab tak ke liye ,

Disclaimer(s)*

-Neither gender is perfect. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Guys are admittedly less complicated but women are most definitely the more sorted gender!
-This is purely for fun. It’s very subjective and there are exceptions. It is NOT a reflection of my thoughts, or beliefs. (except the bits about women and shopping :p) Again not to be taken seriously. A lot of these points, both ways I’ve also argued vehemently against. Random chhe. TP chhe. Manne attack nathi karu please
-I may add more in the future. I like this one

Incident of the week

So I’m in a hurry. The car is waiting downstairs, and I needed to quickly shampoo my hair after a (free ) haircut, before heading out, with people waiting for us at the mall. So I do a splash and dash, put on my clothes, wear my shoes, decide I’ll wear the belt in the lift, and am out of the guest house.

Rush to lift. Am looping the belt as the belt arrives, about 3 loops done, holding shirt with neck. Vest visible. Lift door opens. Hot chick inside. Me doing above mentioned activity. *Imagine O.Shit. No! face here* Quietly get into lift. Go to the back. Unloop whatever of belt has been looped, and hold it in my hand. Desperately controlling my laughter. The chick admittedly doing a much better job at it than me. Lift reaches ground. I move out and when chick is out of hearing range, burst out laughing. LOL LOL LOL. Was such a teenage moment. Was awesome

Its nice to feel dhumb at times. Fun comes.

Baaki mein

-My love affair with Landmark continues even in Gurgaon. What a shop. You have to check out the poster collection they have started. Amazing!

-That I hate shopping doesn’t take away the fact that I’m a brilliant shopper. I mean 2 GAP Jeans, 2 Marks n Spencers classic tees, and a desi brand t-shirt in 1760 bucks is not bad at all Oh and there are some dresses that are simply out of this world. Divine. I saw one such dress at Giovanni at one of the malls. Classic!

-Oh and I’ve realized I’m really out of place with people at times! Certain things, activities, and gestures that people do, that you just can’t think of doing, or absolutely can’t relate to. During such times, I guess it’s best to just be in your shell. Coz it’s the most comfortable place you have.

Until next time, Happy Monday Morning Brews/ Brus/ Blues