Thursday, June 25, 2020

….And those days be back again!!

When we woke up killing our dreams, 
Lamenting and cursing our daily routine. 
With heavy heart and morning prayers 
Coz thought the day would be our slayer. 

Plodding Traffic signals & loaded local trains, 
We wished for stress-free journey & empty lanes. 
Crossing barriers, jumping escalators, swiping in, 
Early or late to office but we always logged in. 

Those smiling faces that greeted us, 
We sat together for a coffee cup. 
Responding on mails we began our day, 
Meetings, issues, process, enough on our plate. 

Agreed less and disagreed more with peers, 
Yet we were together for lunch and cheers. 
We had our tiffs with our bosses 
But ignored it like forgettable losses.
 
We read portals and took quick breaks, 
Some energized themselves with social updates. 
Happy or sad, loss or gain, 
We spent our days without disdain. 

Weekdays passed and Weekend awaited, 
We all socialized and celebrated. 
Somewhere we demanded or hoped for vacation, 
A long break for self-evaluation. 

Where we could defy the routine and bring a change 
Now our wish has been granted, but all so strange.
We are with family but confided in walls 
Trying to relive moments through video calls.
 
The roads & traffic that we hated, 
Hollow they lie, seek to be greeted. 
Restaurants, Pubs and Discs we enjoyed 
Malls, markets, picnic spots now left dried. 

Lockdown made us realize few things 
The life we wanted to run away from was the best thing. 
The crowd was not as worse as it seemed, 
Deserted is not as peaceful as we dreamed. 

Celebs and heroes on screen are not the ones, 
Who can save the world by pulling out guns. 
No online portal guarantees what we desire, 
Local vendors deliver what we require. 

Now when we sit beside the window and ponder, 
We only hope and wish to get stronger. 
Visualizing the times post lockdown, 
We want to be back on the playing ground. 

There is no better relief in pain, 
When we wake up 
…and those days be back again!!!! 
 
 

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Demons in Our Minds

‘…so and so ended his life by consuming poison?’ Scroll through any newspaper, we get to read such real stories every day. We ignore or we discuss briefly about the subject and then move on, rare we try contemplating on the fact that led to the situation that one killed self.

Suhas is a gold medalist in MBA marketing. A fellow from poor background started on a high, got job with 7 figures salary, started his family happily. The confidence was high and destiny showered blessings, sooner he started his business and attained accolades there as well. He was on top when he decided to invest in another venture, he took a great amount of risk investing everything he earned so far but when has the life been so simple every time, this time he stumbled upon few unplanned road blocks and couldn’t handle himself only to lose everything and he was standing right there where he started off. He tried hard but nothing happened and he was left with nothing in his pocket.


The morning started as usual, he sent his son to school, a warm hug to his wife before he left his home just like any other normal day. The fear of failure, the pressure of peers, the burden of social obligation and set of expectations he had from himself became so heavy on his mind that he preferred to walk towards the railway track to deal with the problem in an unusual way that he never ever did so far. There was dead silence all around as he chose most secluded place where no one can interrupt his plans of making a deal by lying on the railway tracks. It was a perfect plan when laid down, he closed his moist eyes and could hear the railway siren from far. He was left with last moments of his life when he started to evaluate his life so far.  

The typical middle class childhood limited to just simple living in few sq. meters house, the school & college life where he always topped the charts, the gold medal and sound job, the promotion and recognition, the life with wife and then children, the time spent with his 10 years old son and a story that he narrated him recently about a struggling fish.

‘Once there was a scientist who was doing an experiment on fishes, he set up a beautiful aquarium and kept combination of few fishes inside, every day he used to feed them and fishes were happy to be enjoying their life in the set up. One day he decided to create a glass barrier in the tank and separated one of the fish named black Moore from the others. He kept on feeding the other fishes but didn’t give any feed to the black moore, fish could see the feed being given on the other side, so she started to struggle to reach its feed, every time she paces towards the other side, she got hit hard by the glass barrier kept in between. It continued for several days when fish gave up and stopped trying. The scientist now skillfully removed the barrier and fed the fishes on the other side again while continue to monitor the behavior of black moore who preferred to die lying in isolation in a corner rather than trying once again when the barrier was finally removed’

Suhas opened his eyes, he suddenly felt moved by the story and applied the same principle to his life and found himself lying in an isolation on tracks rather than giving one more try and fight once again. The train was near and in a split seconds he decided to jump off the track and save himself.

What does one think when he/she finds himself in an unwanted situation of life, the permanent solution to a temporary problem would always seemed to be attractive and easy.  Every day we come across cases of people losing their lives due to committing suicides. It’s rightly said that no two people are same, the strength and attitude to handle same situation is always different by an individual, the approach and behavior will never be same towards the same complexity. So the problem which might seemed to be an easy task for one might be a tedious task for others.  

People say one might have been through a lot that he couldn’t find a way out, yes it can happen with anyone, sometimes it does feel like all doors are locked and there is not even a single key hole to peep through. The situations can lead any one fall into the deepest pit where one can never find a way to come back. However one’s outlook towards life may be, but committing suicide still doesn’t justify the decision to solve the problem. Because the crux of the problem is the devil that doesn’t exist anywhere else than our minds.

Then how one reach the conclusion to end one’s life? When we try to compare our lives with others knowing very well that each life bears fruits of its own destiny? When we lose the battle in our minds? When we tend to forget the fact that after getting out, one has to start his innings again from zero! When we let our circumstances dominate our views? When we tend to lose the brighter side of thoughts? When we allow one’s negative beliefs to spread like a virus in our mind? When we start to feel pity on ourselves?

There can be enormous reasons to feel sad and conclude of ending one’s life. But there is only one thing that would disassociate one from getting disheartened and that’s Perseverance.

Suhas fought every single thought that tried to kill him and saved himself, but not everyone gets a chance to jump of the tracks at the right moment. It has to be a consistent fight with the demons inside our minds. One should remember that nothing worthwhile in life comes without a struggle. There is a saying ‘A smooth sea will never make a skillful mariner’. Everything is difficult before it’s becomes easy, so it’s up to us to absorb it or get absorbed by the situation.


The end

Monday, May 18, 2020

When she ‘Right Swiped’ again!!!

Costa Coffee, Andheri

A girl staring out of the window, tears moistening and darkening her kohl-lined eyes, without blinking she thought about the message that had just beeped into her phone a minute ago. She read it and immediately threw her cell phone away. Her friend sitting across the table, shocked at her reaction, picked up the phone and read the message aloud,
“Hey! I don’t love you anymore, Priya, please don’t get me wrong. Urs Rohan.” 
Her friend kept her phone on the table and started consoling her as she has been her support since the day she had met Rohan. In fact, Priya met Rohan because of her suggestion, she was the one who asked her to download a dating app and got her hooked with him. 
‘I wish I wouldn’t have right swiped on his profile and not given him a chance to destroy me, it’s all because you said that this app was wonderful’ crying she added further and raised a finger on her friend’s choice.
“Please don’t cry. He loves you a lot” she consoled her.
Priya, still looking out of the window, wiped her tears. Her friend put more stress on the words of comfort, hoping she would be able to cheer her up. 
“Well, he might have sent you this message deliberately to tease you, or he may have wanted to send it to someone else, and sent it to you by mistake...” I guess even her friend might have been speculating what she said in a flow but Priya immediately burst into tears again.
“Someone else? Hoooo..oooooo.. sob…sob..he has someone else…and …”
Her friend didn’t let her efforts go in vain and this time she tried hard, she stopped her mid-sentence and banged her with the strongest convictional statement ever.
“Mark my words, one day he will come back because he loves you….and mind you, I found my soulmate through the same app and that app can never go wrong.”
“What crap?” I said to myself when I almost spat an expensive espresso I was savoring. I looked and wondered about the advice being given by her friend ‘If one truly loves you, one will come back‘ the concept which has been one true formula followed by Bollywood movies for a long time. Anyways, I know it’s bad on my part to intrude into someone else’s space and judge them but; that’s all we like doing. Especially when people are too loud to let us intrude and judge them, so my action is justified *wink wink*. It’s not the first time that we are witnessing something like that, the ‘right swipe’ or the ‘4G world’ is giving us a lot to ponder upon. 
But what did she mean when she said ‘The app can never go wrong’? Is there any logic behind the psychology of the 4G generation who have strong faith and over reliance on matching dating entries in an application or was she just trying to soothe her for the sake of cheering her by supporting an app and the decision to drag her friend by downloading the same? Innovative techniques and modern methods of getting someone to date just like ordering food or a cab online might have its own consequences but before I could even think further, a couple made their way to the same coffee shop and the guy gestured his sweet love to occupy a seat when suddenly a hand entered his frame in a flash, leaving him stunned.
Slaapppp!! Oops! He is Rohan and the tight slap that got printed on his left cheek was of the girl who was crying a moment ago. What a coincidence! Rohan and Priya both are here in the same café. Even when my conscience was telling me not to peep or intrude, I couldn’t resist and stared at them like a wild monger. It was silly, but I was trying to analyze something, so it was little justified.
‘’How dare you cheat on me? You can roam around with me at will and the next day you message me to forget you so that you can be with this new girl?‘’ she stated half crying and with full rage. The new girl standing next to Rohan was like ‘i-don’t-give-a-damn’ attitude. Wow! 
Rohan wasn’t shocked though he had kept his hand on his left cheek, he looked here and there, I guess to check how many are witnessing this modern-age love saga, he didn’t say anything and turned around to leave, right after the new girl he entered with who now gestured him to leave the scene after feeling embarrassed I guess, or maybe she had an idea that Rohan is a rockstarrrrr as she held his hand tighter and stronger while leaving, who knows she might have downloaded Rohan from another app which might be more reliable than Priya’s. 
Priya was stunned when Rohan left but she gathered herself and stood there for a few seconds, a little self-talk, she wiped her tears and went to her seat and her friend aka consultant opted a few more traditional ways of consoling her. Everyone around including me digested the moment, few giggled, few ignored and few like me got a topic to think about. 
Before I give another ‘tippni or sujhaav’ on their issue, wait a moment, I watched another couple entering the café and sat next to me. I could very well hear them, yes I have a lot of time. 
“She is ignoring me ha, you know or I guess she is……. I don’t know but why can’t she propose to me? After all she only sent me a request on FB and she added me via Tinder...” the guy addressed the girl who came to have coffee with him, and his looks divided between his phone and the girl. 
“She is a little confused… you know na and she is not good at expressing herself and she is a little shy as well…I know her better than you, she is my best friend.” She stated with all the movements and style she could possibly add including rolling her strands falling on her cheek and staring at the guy with ‘look-at-me-boy’ kind of an intent. 
The guy just nodded in agreement, looking at his cell chatting or may be expecting a reply from his interest half-divided and hoping to hear something pleasant from his friend and then came his friend’s best suggestion.
“…but you don’t worry ha, one day she will kneel down before your love and will admit her feelings for you. Acha chal, let’s buy a gift for her. Come there is a new iPhone in the market…she loves gifts.” she stated in an excitement as if she had a chance of getting one for herself as well, the two left without even ordering something to drink or eat. 
Wow! A gift for the princess! What a wonderful piece of advice!  This is Bollywood stuff. Whether someone is interested or not, ultimately he or she will come to you but you have to keep chasing and making your presence felt by gifting or pinging! I shook my head and finished my coffee which had become cold enough like the relationships I was witnessing in the café. I got up to leave when I heard Priya’s friend’s voice in excitement.  
‘See I have downloaded another application in your phone, now you can rent a boyfriend here.” She said to Priya who beamed with joy as if a new ray of hope has arrived. Without even wiping her tears, she followed her relationship advisor’s advice, took the phone, looked at the profile just like we look at the menu while ordering food, smiled as if she had finalized the order from the menu, looked at her friend as if she just got the right food appealing her taste buds and there she swiped again. I was wondering if that app shows the delivery timelines. 
Amazing! How quickly the love for Rohan has moved on, a right swipe and Rohan was out after installing the new dating application. I wasn’t shocked as none of you would be when you are a part of the 4G apps world, where being fake comes before being real, where being bold comes before being talented, where true love has been replaced by ill and unhealthy feelings. The love is being created today rather being spontaneous or natural. It’s like one is just trying it out like people try a pair of jeans. These are the days where a right swipe in an application decides the love story. I left and saw from outside that Priya and her friend were taking a selfie and Priya was happy. I imagined they will Instagram it right away and get likes and comments like an instant coffee and post would be like: 
‘New Beginning, feeling excited #feelingfresh #bestfriend #lostlove #foundlove #justwow #boyfriend #kissemoticons’ etc. etc. etc.

Monday, May 4, 2020

Youth rejects lucrative offers! You will be shocked by his choice!

‘Why did you reject a job offer?’ Asked my frustrated uncle to his son who just completed his engineering and was offered a hefty package of 6 digits per annum. Rocky urf Ranjeet kumar remained least bothered and preferred concentrating on his PUBG rather replying his dad who repeated the same question finally with a chappal in his hands only to break his son’s concentration who I guess lost the battle of PUBG with same regret as Marathas during the battle of Panipat and counted his father as an invader who broke his concentration by supporting the opposition in an important battle. He got up from his chair, kept the cell in his pocket and without wasting much energy simply replied his dad.

‘Apna time ayega’ and left the scene with a pride and a walk like a branded hero of bollywood as if he has decoded the path to success. The father left bemused with background music of ‘Gully Boy’ in his son’s cell phone.

Gone are the days when majority of 90’s youth dreamt of completing the most popular Bachelor degree as B.TECH and cream wanted to invest in being MBBS. As we entered in 2000 era rightly called RHTDM phase when first decade made few adjustments and inspired youth to be lured towards the Management degrees with MBBS holding its own value as it is. The career choice of the youth was much like the ‘a blind sheep’ when following the crowd was the motto and hefty packages with privileged onsite opportunities were the only destinations that was fed deep into the subconscious minds of younger population.
The definition of success was simple during 90’s aiming for least complicated life style like Surendra Sahni from Bollywood flick, a fixed 9-5 Job in a power house and scooter with wife and kids enjoying best weekend with an occasional movie in theater and pani puri. The definition changed in last years of first decade of 2000 when hefty packages, a big caaaaaaar and an onsite visit faded Surendra Sahni into career oriented ‘Mr X’ yet contributing towards the development of country with his contribution towards the various fields ranging from IT, Telecom, Electronics, Medical and many more.

Then what prompted the son of worried dad saying ‘Apna time ayega’ despite having an offer in one hand and expensive iphone X in other. Well the youth answered himself.
‘I am just following my heart’ adjusting his rapper cap with a silver chain and neatly trimmed beard, he looked rigid and his eyes penetrating deep into my eyes as if questioning my very existence making me little uncomfortable and with an attitude and swag next to Dinchak level. He just looked above and touched the poster of someone out of regard who had rocked the world of fame without any formal education and broke all the barriers of old fashioned trends of attaining the success, I looked at the poster and it was of ‘Dinchak Pooja’. After all majority of youth regarded her as the inspiration and an idol who followed her heart without using brains and deleted the word wisdom from her dictionary and rose to obnoxious fame but setting the trend for youth like Rocky.

He didn’t prefer being questioned about his future plans and platform he might be using for his success but preferred putting it in quotes and words on the social media platform with loads of hashtags. Before I could ask more questions and get to know his mind, like every grown up cousin will do, he excused himself from the “irritating” cousin and pulled his cell from his pocket, adjusting the selfie stick tied to the table and fixing his phone he opened the ‘Tik Tok’ app and recorded his performance just like an executive delivers his business presentation to his esteemed clients. It’s not sure how many rounds of appreciation an executive gets after a presentation but the guy sitting opposite to me got the result within just a few minutes. He showed the hearts and likes of his followers who seemed to be in range of 113k’s, god knows how we have followers of anything and everything.

‘This is life you know bro… I just rock, these people are crazy about me’ he said with an excitement in a videshi accent leaving me with a blank stare wondering ‘Bhaiya’ turned to bro and excitement of delivering presentation and getting rewarded by manager and clients seemed useless to me but I remained patient.
Things changed quickly yet it was a slow change, the fight for survival within the telecom sectors and advancement in technology highlighted the youth of 90’s and 2000’s as unlucky to have missed 3G and 4G era and further various other career options which we could have opted by following so called ‘heart’, we remained silent due to less technological advancement that kept us to landline, pager and max Nokia 3300. But let’s not forget the fact that many of us were contributing towards the technology so that the youth like Rocky can use the platform and find various other unthinkable means to achieve so called “success”.
‘My aim is to become Youth Icon’ he replied with a pride in his loud and arrogant voice and my eyes left wide open wondering about the souls of ‘Steve Jobs’ , ‘Stefan Hawkins’ ,’APJ Abdul kalam’ who if watching this must be wondering just like me.

‘Why not to opt for job after your graduation, you can be an icon in the field you have studied’ I asked humbly with least expectation of getting any favorable reply.
‘I was born creative, education destroyed me’ he said and I couldn’t resist wondering and feeling pity on people who studied for becoming an inspiration. Well no questions or objection on his thoughts and principles of life but it seemed the social media youth is well equipped with self-motivated thoughts, abundance knowledge to counter long lasting traditions of success and handful of icons who have rose to fame with a wink of an eye, I could see another poster on his wall of a wink girl from south. Wow I said to myself ‘The Hardik Pandya generation is all set to rock like my cousin rocky’ How things have deteriorated from Rahul Dravid’s era to Pandya’s.

‘What do you want to become?’ I questioned him politely taking care of his aggressive nature of getting bored of same question, even after his display of followers on social media I was unable to figure out what exactly is the occupation that he is being driven into. He stopped fondling with his cell phone and finally he glared at me again after enjoying hearts from his followers and was visibly confused. I was expecting a quick response and ending the conversation on dead note. He relaxed himself on his revolving chair, scratched his head, mincing his eyes and curving his lips tightly he thought for a moment, I guess he was exploring all the options in his head without any clear picture of what exactly is the destination.

‘I want to be extremely rich and powerful’ he replied and I got my answer, looked at him with gentle look and excused myself as he had to make few more videos for his fans. While leaving the room I saw an offer letter torn apart and another poster of rock star ‘Honey Singh and Badshah’ on his wall and I left with a silent prayer in my heart ‘God Save Our dear Youth’