A Life Worth Telling...

My grandmother’s great wish for me is that I become a writer and chronicle our family history. This is also my mother’s greatest fear. Every time I mention the word publish she shudders involuntarily. Let sleeping dogs (and skeletons) lie. So, on balmy summer nights, with stomachs full of mangoes, ammamma and I would remember the ancestors, who still leave ectoplasmic footprints around the old family house (now carved up like the Chinese Melon), muttering to themselves in Tamil in their flat, pharyngeal voices, and spraying chewed up betel leaves into brass spittoons.

A series of Grandmothers- Their set of Mission Impossible things- feature in these stories, Grandmothers who's husbands names are not invoked, as if they were Amazonian queens. Grandmothers coping with tradition, Grandmothers coping with the Raj, grandmothers coping with communism, Grandmothers coping with modernity, Grandmothers battling and overcoming illness, Grandmothers winning their many small wins and suffering their many great defeats. A great pantheon of heroic grandmothers, of an obscure branch of the snake-dynasty, that finally whittles down to me. My mother, naturally not asleep, would sneer and scold us for that sort of nonsense talk, for filling up my head with these stories, polluting my aspirations of becoming a 'serious young man', with that of becoming a great, story-worthy, story-writing Grandson

Who do you think you are? Arundhati Roy?

So the stories were kept in my head, to be taken out when it was time to write them down. It got me into a habit of collecting stories. This is a very simple habit to cultivate; all you have to do is listen and then keep safe. These days I try to spell them out into paper, but thats when I realize, they're no longer in words.

Letting Be...

It's amazing how uplifting it is for both the person acting, and the person being acted upon.

My grandmom, for example, reacts to activity by moving around (a lot!). The hustle and bustle is what keeps her going.. now this may not be someone else's style and even if you do succeed in making her sit, you can be sure she will not be happy.

Letting people be.. it helps!

iPhone and Android

I would probably have been agonizing over whether to go for an iPhone or an Android. Now, however, I am a proud owner of the iPhone4.. And here's the thing..

I walk into the MRT this morning and casually glance around, I see roughly 60% of the people in my compartment playing games on their respective iPhones. Among this demographic was an old grandmother, a young kid (who couldn't have been older than 3) and a bunch of working professionals..

Is it cool to own an iPhone? Probably not.. but I realized a few big things today -

1) Apple has made it 'seem' cool..
2) Steve Jobs has mended his ways and for a change, gone for the masses. He understands geek psychology after all. Geek psychology would dictate going for the lesser known (cue: linux and even Mac OS) and the relatively tougher to use (here, just picture a Mac user trying to work in a team full of windows users with windows only software..). And who can blame them, it's akin to professional tennis players using smaller rackets as it's tougher to control but more rewarding when you do..

My mom has occasional trouble using the Android but seemingly, little kids have no trouble using the iPhone. So, all of a sudden, we have Google playing to the needs of the geeks and Apple playing to the needs of masses (by just implementing astounding simplicity combined with a genius app store concept. Case in point - even Nokia phones have more options to customize incoming ringtones but of course, they don't have apps anywhere as cool as what Apple does).

The bigger realization here however was that while it was only the 'geek' demographic who experimented with smart phones in the early days (Think Palm Pilot etc), the smartphone user base is dominated by 'non-geek's'.

And while I may not be a big fan of many of Apple's moves and while I may admire the Android OS's openness, full credit to Jobs for making a device so bloody simple that it is loved by the masses, yet making sure it retains it's 'coolness' factor.

I aint a fan of Apple or anything..I'm just finding that owning an iPhone4 is cool with people around me..or else i'm happy with a basic nokia or a sony model..
I can afford it with my money(MINE!! lol) and i'm happy with the apps in my phone..so yeah ,full credit to Apple Inc.

Stuff With No Meaning...

Well..I've noticed quite a few people saying meaningless things..actually ,they dont mean to say those stuff ,but it actually ends up meaningless
The reasons for that ,Well..mainly not understanding the situation or the person..That plays a MIGHTY MIGHTY role!!

It happens in daily life..
Like ,a few days ago ,My lil sister wakes me up late at night just to ask me whether i'm sleeping..Like wtf right?? haha..
And it happens in most relationships..A girl digs out a guys feelings for her just to be said with no answer :P lol..It happens to one and all ,The girl you like gets to know of the fact that you like her...And she gets the hints you leave her ,she finds it out and well ,confronts (not the literal confront) but you get what I mean..She confronts you and you accept the fact that you like her..
What then??? Whats the bloody point in it if she doesnt even tell you whats bugging her or what she has in mind??
People in all walks of life feel this kinda thing ,People say something..But actually ,they themselves dont know what it actually means!!
Thats the problem with most teens these days ,Love is a major example..Its not actually the literal love..Its PUPPY LOVE or Lust as most people put it..It happens with almost all pretty girls/guys you see...In School/On the Road/In the store near your place/Or even at the weirdest of all weird places...
Love..well ,People say its a spark when you meet a person ,true..But you need to give it time to bloom..You need to know if you actually wanna live the rest of your life with the girl/guy you got that spark for
and For that ,Being friends is the best thing!!!
According to me ,a POTENTIAL girlfriend is supposed to be my BEST FRIEND..She has to know EVERY bloody thing about me..Right from who I last dated ,which was my last relationship..How it ended ,my most dearest of secrets and all sorts of things like that :D
When thats the case ,it actually ends on a pretty good note ,The relationship..
But when the girl knows nothing about you and you're a couple ,its AMAZING in the initial stages..But as life goes on ,It just ends..Mutual break ups
Thats the reason for almost 85% of divorce cases I feel..

First ,Understand your girl/guy...Talk to him/her and get to know them pretty well..
Second, Create an impact by saying or doing something for them..That way ,They get to trust you..Not the idiotic "I'd die for you" nonsense..Dont say it unless you mean it ,cuz if the girl asks you to dive from a cliff ,are you gonna do it?? Goddamn it..Think before you say something
Third, Be true to the girl you like..If you're gonna go looking at almost every other woman on the street thinking they are hot ,Well..You arent in love.. In 24 hours ,the girl you like should be bugging your feelings for minimum of half the time you spend at school/work/bus or anywhere for that matter..

On the whole ,I aint talking philosophy here..
I just want to convey to my readers that do not do stuff which has no meaning
If you do a thing ,Convey to the other person what you mean by that..
In that example of digging out someones feelings ,Please girls..Tell the guy what you feel cuz I'm sure EVERY GUY on earth wants to know what the girl feels after she gets to know the fact that HE LIKES HER!!!
Its a sincere plea to all readers...
Have a nice day :D

When I Scream At Someone

it generally means that I've had a bad day..

I think that's a nice reminder myself. I had a guy screaming at me the other day for no apparent reason and one half of me was tempted to go out and snap back. ..

Anyway, I resisted the temptation and moved on. 'He must have had a bad day' - I thought. And didn't lose twice... :)

(Here's more on losing twice from 'Both sides of the table'

--
It reminds me of when somebody cuts you off in their car on a highway. Sure, he (and let’s face it – it’s always a “he”) is a jerk. But you can’t change it. Aside from being dangerous to chase him and wag your finger at him, you’ve suddenly gotten your heart rate up 20 points. You lose twice.

There are many times in life where taking the wrong path causes you to lose twice. Know the difference between fighting (and enjoying it) or giving in, letting go of the angst and choosing to be zen. So in business when it’s time to fight – fight. When it’s time to concede or compromise – do so graciously. Don’t lose twice

Indian National Anthem-Youth Version

'You've Told Me This Before'

How many times have we heard people we love re-tell THAT story again and again with lots of passion and excitement..

Sometimes done out of passion, other times out of excitement and yet some others just out of context and a will to share..

And how many times have we laughed or pulled their legs about it and said 'Yeah, you've told me this before'

After making a mental note about this, today, for the first time, I resisted the urge to say so and just smiled and listened. It was hard but it was a small victory and a small effort that went a long way in not raining on a loved one's parade..

I'm not sure how much of a difference it made to my listeners but it gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside..

Here's to doing this more often..