A digitally synced life... A smart way of living???

I am someone who prefers writing with a pen on a paper... I am also someone who prefers to type my thoughts.... Basically I am a confused person... 

The other day I was just putting a few thoughts on my computer (which is synced to my sky drive entirely) and a thought just popped up.... What if someday sky drive decides to discontinue its services or if my computer breathes it's last... Willl my thoughts be lost forever??

Today we are so much in sync with the digital world that we couldn't do a day without it. Imagine not having google to check every single thing you need to know or not having social networking websites to let the world know that what you are upto. I personally cannot imagine such a day. 

We are not just dependent but we also trust it so much that instead of having physical bits and pieces of our lives, we have it all together on a chip... Be it on a PC or a tab or even a phone. 

A world that had been in origin only since the past 15 years today has the control of our lives. The revolution that we talk of knows much more about us even more than our family and friends.

Multi billion dollar companies are incharge of our lives or better put they run our lives for us. What if someday they decide that the business of ruling our lives is not very profitable and may be they should either shut down or merge with someone or some entirely new concept 

If someday google decides that they will charge for every search or if the servers of social networking websites either fail or get hacked... 

Will our life break into bits and pieces that we will never be able to recover or will some superman come to ensure that no revolution breaks our life like that??

In comparison to this if I reflect over the lives of our ancestors... Their social networks or their search engines, etc, were all in black and white in the form of encyclopaedias, diaries, letters, etc. 

All these modes though time consuming ensured that they were in control of thei own lives and no third party decisions effected it or their lives in any manner compared to ours that is entirely dependent on third parties.

This thought though provoking gave me  little or no answers.

What do you think?????

Humanity lives on....

The other day I had an experience... A scary one!

I would have preferred to write it on the same day, however, being the lazy one that I am, I gave it a miss...

Finally the words are coming down today!

In the past few months negativity has been seen all over.... Watch a news channel, read a news paper, walk down a street... it all has something horrifying to share

I live in Mumbai... A city which has been famous for being rude and self-conscious in every aspect possible... However, I am sure that everyone who lives here will agree otherwise. We Mumbaikar's know that even though we walk alone everyday, we will always find someone when we need them. Pick any story... the terrorist attack in South Mumbai, the blasts in the railways or 26/07 when the entire city was under water....

So today when pessimism is the word of the hour, month or day... I had an experience that made me realize... Humanity may not be easily available, but it still sticks around somewhere....

As few may know, I have recently changed my job. New job means a tedious (may be not so much) process of filing documents proving that you are as qualified as your CV suggests.

Being the lazy person I am, I decided to make the idiotic decision of carrying all my documents. My birth certificate to my degree and everything in between.

After a long day at work (and a tired mind) I started the journey of going home... My document file had served its purpose and was ready to get back into the junk drawer of my cupboard.

I take a cab to Churchgate. People who don't live in Mumbai its one of the super crowded railway stations in Mumbai!

I reach the station, pay my cab driver, buy a bhel (for Rs. 15!!! Where did the Rs. 5 bhel days go....!! ), and get into the train. Just when the leaving horn blows I realize my file is not with me.... SHIT!!

First thought... I must have forgotten it in office...

Second thought... No not in office... it was with me when I took the cab

Third thought... Forgot it in the cab.... OMG!!!!

Fourth thought... I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO?????

With some presence of mind (thankfully!!) I unboard the train just as it leaves the platform...

After acting dumbstruck for about 7 mins I go out and try to find the cab driver who had dropped me at the station....

Again, out of bad habits, I didn't remember the face of the driver... Secondly, I didn't know the cab number (how I want to start with the habit of noting these numbers!!!), I actually didn't even remember the model of the car that I took...!

So I run around, peeking to all the cabs that are waiting outside the station... Believe me there were too many (God knows where these cabs disappear when I actually need one!!)

People obviously start noticing a paranoid girl running around the station peeking into every possible cab like she has gone crazy... Which I am sure I looked like!

A few people were sweet enough to ask if everything is alright... Some suggested to call the taxi union to report this. If my luck was with me a genuine driver would submit it there... However, they were very un-supportive when it came to sharing the details of where the union is and what would be its number (some actually didnt even know that a union existed...)

Anyways, then I see a few railway police officials at the tea stall... I decided to seek help... I shared my story with them, and surprisingly they were more than supportive... one of them took over the task of checking all the cabs at the station, the other went and spoke to all stalls at the station to figure if a cab driver who had found a file came to their stall... And the third one.. A lady officer just stood with me to give moral support...

Fifteen minutes later, they both come back... with no results.... They tried to console me by saying that definitely someone will come back with my documents. Then, one of them then noticed that the place where I left the cab was just opposite the cctv camera installed at the station and that he would check it to see if they can find anything.... With ideas and words of encouragement they left me there to wait for the driver...

Finally... another 25 mins later, I get a call from an unknown number. With hope I take the call... It was from a customs officer. He told me that he found my file in the cab he took from near fort.... Thank God!!!

With no bounds to my joy, I asked him where he is (VT Station) and took off immediately...

On my way, I got a call from my previous work place informing me that a man had called them to know my contact details.... He said that he had my document file

Its then that I realized... My file did not have my contact details (dumb of me!).. In fact none of the documents had my contact number either... It did not have my address or any other contact details... All it had was a recommendation letter in an envelope from my previous work place.

Having found no other contact, the man had actually made the effort to go through the entire file (and it was a thick file), to find this letter... called the place and asked for my details from there....

When I met him, I couldn't thank him enough. I told him that he has no idea how much of a favor he had done by returning his file... and in response he told me... He knew that the documents would be really important for me and thus it was his responsibility to hand them over directly. When he walked away I noticed that the man had a train to board... and he had taken a risk of missing the train in his effort of saving me a lot of trouble....


At the end of it all....I did get my file back... What a relief that was... But I realized was that Humanity has no definitions. It can show its face from the least expected places. The man could have ignored the documents altogether, He could have had given it to the taxi driver and got rid of the responsibility  but he instead decided to take make the effort to find me and hand it over directly....

Life with a twist....

Its been a long since I wrote last.... I have many who ask me if I have quit writing???

Honestly, I haven't been able to say anything except a lame cover up of "I keep busy"

However, in my head all i can think of is... quit writing??????

How is it that it has become so difficult to pen thoughts on paper (literally on keyboard) when all i do in my head is think?

So, my wandering mind goes back to wandering... trying to figure whats-up..!!!

A while ago, I had issues with a lot of things. Everything that i saw around me gave a new thought which lead to a point of view that i felt was something worth sharing, which i did... (Phew!! thats a lot for one sentence)

These days, I still see a lot of things that bother me and have my share of thoughts. However, I do not feel compelled to share or voice them anymore.


Reason???

I am not sure. What is it that has changed in the past one year??

I still am an idiotic person who stumbles on things that normal people easily notice and avoid (people who walk with me will vouch for this one!!)

I spend enough time facebooking and stalking others lives...

I still dance my heart out or cook when I am stressed...

And I know that I am definitely not busy enough to give Mukesh Ambani a complex...

So more or less, I am the same person who thought it was a good idea to share my wandering views out in the public.



Then again how can i agree to that one... If the above is true, it is also true that -

I do not ramble my thoughts in public that often....

Today if i see something that i do not like, I do not judge that person/idea/act (in simple terms.... I do not bother) but simply ignore it

Thinking about stuff and moving on is a lot easier than putting it down on a blog...



Does all of this mean that my perceptions and ideals of life have changed??

or that I have mellowed as a person??

or again as they like to put it.. I've matured and smaller things do not matter any more??



Could be... could be not.. All I could conclude on was that maybe my opinions are still as important to me as they used to be.. I still like to share things with others even though those things are obvious as day and night....

maybe the culprit has another name....

Something like...Priorities!!



When I started writing, I really didn't have much to bother about... my private and public life was more or less the same and i thus felt strongly even about the smaller things..

Then things like job pressure,  future decisions and life altering events popped up and everything else suddenly didn't require much attention..

I am sure all of us have been (or are still) there.. Things that you loved doing are not that important anymore... Be it reading, travelling, watching sitcoms, etc. etc. I've even had times when I have had to take  a special appointment with myself to call and chat with close friends. Something that happened very easily earlier.... for this one I am hoping I am not the only freak...!!!



Life has kinda taken a different route.. from being the one who noticed smaller things I have become someone who now tries to untangle the larger portion of life..

M I complaining???

Not really.... Life was fun then and life is fun now... Just the wallpaper has changed....



P.s. - Having said all of this, I am hoping that I keep writing...

Options.... too many for a choice????

I was in the 5^th grade and we had started writing with pens… something new….always exciting…!!

So what pens can I use for writing??

May be a china pen (very famous during those days… as my friends would agree) or may be a pilot pen… gel pens were a new and expensive concept then… ball pens were out of question for most school kids… so that’s about it!!!

Few options…. easy decision!!

Compare the same with my nephew’s options today… 10 types of gel pens with a thousand different options for inks… names and types of ink pens are beyond what I had ever heard of…

So now if I want to buy a new pen…

I have around a 125 options (exaggeration ofcourse)…..!!

How do I know which one is the best option??

Mostly through other’s experiences…. and may be through the shop keeper’s recommendation (translation: something with a higher margin)

I decide on something… and when I start using it I figure that the product is good but has some issues… may be the other option was better… may be this isn’t the best quality available…

So I spend a lot of time in choosing a product… and I spend even more time cribbing that it is not the best buy….

This seems to be the scenario for most things these days…. Food… apparel… luxury… and the list can go on

May be it is a good thing… you have a lot of options… obviously it means a lot of competition amongst the sellers… which usually places the customer on the better end… so quality and price both are favourable.. also the internet ensures that we are well informed about all our choices.

Then… may be its not that good after all….

So many options tend to confuse me further… I may like more than one option, in which case I may end up having doubts about my choice… in case the product in question doesn’t fit my requirements I end up tagging myself as an unsatisfied customer….

The same theory may applies to everything else.. like selecting a joint for lunch… a destination for a holiday… for that matter even selecting a job or a career path

Nostalgic moments…

Good old days…. world was a large place to live in…. Social networking wasn’t even around… having an email account proved that I am a pro with computer…

Choices were limited…. What I had in mind was exactly what I would get…product features being a small pool… less choices meant lower expectations thus higher satisfaction in most cases…

May be we do have a lot of options these days…. tons of applications in the android store and blackberry store giving you options to explore the world…

May be the world is a healthier place to live in… and I guess it’s a thrill in its self when you have so many things to choose from…

But I still cant stop wondering which one was better….

Researching for 30 days…. doing all the ground work required…. spending 30k on a smart phone with all the features… and still wondering….if I should have chosen the other brand…

Or…

Being a good girl for the longest of time….. Convincing parents to shell 3k…. buying a Nokia 1100 with zero features except a snake game…. And still flaunting it to everyone who cares to bother????

India.... a country of Festivals...!!

They say India has way too many holidays... And I think that's true... Festivals, national holidays, bandh/protests... Something is up round the year...

The major culprit for these holidays are festivals.... Our history, its incidents and the cultural diversity therein have ensured that we end up celebrating most festivals on the planet (there are many many which we are not even aware of... I am referring to the major ones that are celebrated worldwide)... Eid (Ramzan & Bakri), Christmas, Easter, Diwali, New Year's and many many regional festivals... We have them all...

Its season time now... A season that begins mid August and covers pretty much the rest of the year.... Ganesh Chaturthi followed by Navratri, Diwali, Christmas, New Years and both the Eids dropping somewhere in between...

Every festival having its own beliefs and rituals.... But I am not really sure if it is restrictive... The rituals and beliefs are still intact but the celebrations are a part of everyone's life...

Chaturthi involves participation from every age and caste...

Navratri is leg tapping period for everyone...

Eid and Sheer Kurma have their fans...

Christmas & Santa (with his gifts) followed by New Years are the most awaited evenings of the year...

Its Diwali week... You look around and its easy to feel the hype and preparations all around... 

Kids are all done with their exams (how much I miss my school days and the elongated Diwali celebrations)... 

You pass by a bunch of houses and you can surely smell something delicious cooking inside... 

Kids, uncles, aunties (I know its aunts in english... But just doesn't sound right with the lingo :D), grandparents everyone is set with their plans...

Diwali - A Festival of Lights.... Everything from the windows to door panes to shops and malls will justify this... And this continues till the beginning of the new calendar year... 

You walk on the roads and you see a bunch of kids bursting crakers... Chor sipahi is the in game with fire cracker gun being the toy of the season.. I am not a supporter of fire crackers (though I like fuljharis :D)... but observing these kids at play is enjoyment in itself...

Similarly... Its fun to talk to a lady who is preparing for diwali... The house has to be cleaned (for laxmiji's welcome)... Varieties have to be prepared for guests and relatives... Its one of the busiest period ever...  but you hardly hear them complaining... Infact they are all excited (May be coz of the shopping they get to do... :P)

Men in the house are busy helping ladies in cleaning and lighting the house (ofcourse besides paying all the bills)...

Grandparents are busy with religious stuff and story telling...

When they say India is a secular country... These festivals will prove this... its celebrations will justify it... A country where Non-Hindus participate in Ganpati Visarjan... Non-Muslims follow Rozas to cleanse their bodies & minds and savor Sheer Kurma and Non-Catholics follow easter rules and ask for gifts from Santa...

They say India has way too many holidays... But looking at the life that it carries... I don't think I am complaining...!!!