Train Conversations

I captured something that every Indian must have gone through & relished while traveling. 

Here's a glimpse into some statements picked up from the typical Indian conversation by various people in a train to Ahmedabad :

1. Karma ! If you are rich, if you are poor, its all because of Karma.

2. Human is the most beautiful thing created by God.

3. These days mom calls up my servant more than she calls me just to ask when would he be coming home for work. And the servant would reply that as it is a Sunday, he is taking his wife out to Kankaria Lake.

4. Gujaratis love Sundays. They would sit back home, eat all they can & hang around with family. Marwadis are totally different in that case. Marwadis are less worried about life after 4 days and so much more worried about their next 7 generations that they will also work on Sundays so that the coming generations do not have to face a problem.

5. People now a days go to malls just to enjoy the AC. They don't really intend to shop.

6. Knowledge is important to know how to do things in the right way. Today people have degrees but no knowledge. 

7. If you want to be in the best place all you need is confidence. 

In MBA interviews they have been asking,

-How many buttons does your shirt have ?

-What is the color of the chair you are sitting on ?

-What was your train number?

They won't check if its correct or not if you can confidently answer back. 

8. MBA and the likes of popular degrees don't have any value because of quality of knowledge they impart.  Once my friend who is an MBA suddenly dropped by my house & said, 'Yaar mere sath bank chal na. DD bana k de muje'. Because this MBA guy did not know how to go about making a DD (Demand Draft).

9. Jo hai usko bacha k rakho. Jo insaan ki sabse badi kamayi hai usko bacha k rakho, gumao mat. (Save whatever you have earned, don't let it go. He was probably talking in terms of respect).

10. There are too many love marriages happening these days. Kids never want bad for their parents but love relationships turn things bad. Because neither do the children nor do the parents understand. Most love marriages have a friend as a role model. Only navra (idle) people fall in love otherwise who has time for all this nonsense. And if parents bring a good looking girl for their son who is already in love with someone else then its of no use coz 'agar dil aya gadhi pe toh pari kya chiz hai'. There are 4 things ruined by love marriages i.e. 'money, time, mental peace & relations'.

You too must have heard serious to hilarious conversations while traveling. Would you like to share a couple of them ?

Bye bye boredom !

Bored at office?

That is a common phenomenon !  So how do you overcome that ? Sleep off ? Naah...you never know when the boss passes by your desk while you go ZzzzZzzz !

Here are some insane ways to kick that sleep away & get all active & good to go:

1. Stand right on top of your chair and yell, " I lost my pen ! How am I possibly gonna survive without it ". Make funny faces while you do that ;)

2. Bump into an office mate's desk who is really busy, peep into his work and shout, " Dude, you are doing it all wrong. The boss is gonna kill you !!!"

3. Roll your chair all over the place & give a hi-five to all your colleagues. That ways, even your colleagues are happy :)

4. Just when you are sleepy, start doing all the breathing exercises you know. Ask your colleagues to follow. Maybe you can climb up on your desk and guide them how to do it ;)

5. A hot beverage might just help you ward off boredom. How about going out for a cup of tea/coffee along with the watchman & peon ! That way, at the end of the day you know you have done something kind :)

6. Why get bored when you can do something nice ? Write a testimonial to all your colleagues one by one each day. Inspire others at your workplace to do the same. See unity grow !

7. Do crazy/weird thoughts strike your mind often ? Jot them down on your sticky notes and stick them all around your desk. People around might get curious to know and maybe your desk can be the 'Next cool place to be' !

8. Write a notice on the office board : 'The boss wants everyone to go to his cabin and wish him good morning. The one who doesn't will have to treat the whole office with ice-cream'

[ Warning : Tell your boss about it before you do that ;) ]

Do you have more ideas to give away ? Go ahead, comment & maybe I can add that part here :)

[ PS: This blog was written when I got bored at office with all the work completed & no pending stuff to do ]

Here’s why a creative writer needs to move around…

Yes, imaginations play a huge role when you are writing something, especially if you want to get creative. But ever wondered, what you would do if you just had to sit at one  place and write, write, write and write all the time?

How possibly can you come up with new ideas? How far can you dream? How much can you imagine? 

Don’t you think you need to see new things, meet new people, go around all the time to kick your thoughts to get it 

going? Trigger your thinking process?

So how will that happen?

Take a break from your routine. Go around. You can bunk those not-so-urgent responsibilities for once!

Ever bunked office & did something that you always wanted 

to do? Try it ! You will have a wonderful topic to write on. Maybe you can title it ‘Dare to bunk office?’ or something similar.

Think about it. Roam around. Go to unknown places. Explore all you can.

Will you only make up stories in your head, refer the internet 

all the time? How real can you be by doing so?

There’s only one solution to all of this. GET OUT !

Give yourself & your skill some importance. Nourish it.

Have an instance to share ?

We Indians love God & Procrastination...

Curtains, lights & a female voice in the background.

That huge happy feeling you get while in a concert. I attended one recently. It was a tribute concert for the 1st superstar of Bollywood - Rajesh Khanna.

Such a big event, an international singer, housefull hall & well known personalities from Gujarat. So?? Well, it still started off with a prayer. I could see most of us with joined hands while the prayer played in the background.

Alright then, Number 1 : We always follow the tradition of remembering God before everything that we do ...

Number 2 : We Indians are super punctual (Sarcasm intended). Just another thing I noticed during the concert! It was supposed to begin at 9:30 PM, but as usual, as per the rule, following the 'Indian Time', it began at 10:00 PM. No wonder!!!

But then its a circle. There's a circle to everything that happens.

From the trains to concerts, nothing happens on time. Keeping aside those professionals who begin their business meetings on dot time (I have witnessed quite  few).

Trust me, in my 22 years of life, I have never seen a train arrive on time EVER!

So what's with things not happening on time?

We are very intelligent people. Lets take the concert for example :

The organizers knew that people won't show up on time, so they started off late. While on the other side, people knew that the concert won't start on time, so they arrived late. And stuck in between were those punctual people. They had to pay a price to come early by waiting for those OH-SO-NOT-PUNCTUAL people to arrive & the concert to begin.

I was wondering, just a passing thought...

if people arrived on time, would the concert begin on time?

Frankly, I don't think so! I could still see people on stage making arrangements in a hurry.

So basically nobody is to be blamed. Its the mentality that needs to change. Nobody will go around asking you to change. It can only happen if it comes from the inside.We also don't value time when it comes to informal meetings/activities. 

"I need to get my clothes from the dry cleaner right now? Forget it, I'll get them tomorrow"

All of this leads to what? Procrastination!

So what ? Big Deal? Everybody has flaws, so do we INDIANS!

Conclusion : We are not punctual & we procrastinate. We strongly believe that its one life we get, meant to enjoy. So we eat tummy full, enjoy the last bit of everything, stay merry & leave the world with worries of counting our flaws.

Still proud to be an Indian :)

Those little things in life

Have you ever noticed? Some little things make us happy & we never realize it !

Have you ever tried observing what those things are ?

Watching a flock of birds flying- the togetherness makes you happy...

Seeing a baby you don't know smile at you- the connection makes you happy...

A dog following you wagging its tail- the innocence makes you happy...

Finding a chocolate in your room you never thought existed- the surprise makes you happy...

The aura of the first rain- the freshness makes you happy...

A cup of tea when you needed it the most but never asked for, mom's kiss on your cheek while you are half asleep, a perfect dream that you don't remember but still know it was amazing, dad asking you 'Everything going good?', when you solve a puzzle no one else could, a butterfly flapping by, someone appreciating your look, a sip of cold water under the sun, a gush of cool breeze during summers, first message from a loved one in the morning, sale in your favorite outlet (specially girls), paper ball falling rite in the bin while you pretend to play basketball with it, a bird staring at you, coming across a bush full of flowers, wearing a brand new shoe for the first time, racing your vehicle with random people on the road, not halting at any traffic signal, finding a vacant place to park your vehicle, a good morning wish by the watchman & much more...

I remember the other day while I was just leaving a mall, a little girl cried on her mom's shoulder. I passed a smile to the little one & she smiled back. Imagine how would that feel ! No words, right ?!

Happiness is everywhere, we just need to observe it, find it & things will be great.

Next time you think you have the worst life ever, just look around & your life won't be worst anymore :-)

Smile

Wikipedia says, ' A smile is a facial expression formed by flexing the muscles near both ends of the mouth'.

But, I think there's more to it ! 

A smile is more than just a facial expression. It is something that comes with a feeling, an inner feeling which is genuine. When a person smiles, the expression itself reveals whether the smile is real or fake. So why do you think people fake their smiles? Well, it could be anything. To hide the upsetting situation they are going through or to make others believe that though not great but things will be under control soon.

I sometimes feel upset, those general things that any one might face anytime in life. So what do I do to hide my sorrow? Nothing! I simply don't smile. Why hide your sorrow, why fake a smile when you don't feel like smiling at all? When upset, I go back home from work & do things I love. May it be troubling & irritating mom or gorging on chocolates or having a warm cup of coffee.

So next time you are upset, don't hide, just do what you think will make you feel good. Loud music also does the trick for me. I also love shouting at random people on the way, it makes me throw up my frustration. 

If you want to smile, make it genuine. If you don't feel like smiling, talk to yourself, untangle things & make sure you come back to senses only after you end up with a solution. And then when you are all ready to smile, SMILE, & it will be genuine. You are special & no one can deny that. You owe nothing to anyone, so why worry?!

So what do we learn from this? Well, nothing in particular! Drop the worry, not everything in life is to be learnt, make it light, FEEL the happiness inside you.

SMILE :D

 Review: Mausam

Director- Pankaj Kapoor

Producers- Sheetal Talwar & Vinod Lulla

Music- Pritam

Lead Actors- Shahid Kapoor & Sonam Kapoor

Released on- 23rd September 2011 (India)

1. Entertainment:  Its entertainment value is low as all that the movie has is slow romance, songs popping up unexpectedly and a predictable story line.

2. Best part : The only good thing that i found in the movie was how it smartly covers the major incidents of India i.e. from Babri Masjid to Godhra riots.

3. Songs: Songs are fairly good and has also been liked by many. Lyrics is nothing new or out of the blue but the song composition makes it sound good. 

It all starts from a slow love story, how Harry finds excuses to meet his new found love Ayat every now and then. The romantic part is boring and formal. Finally, when its time to confess about love, Ayat disappears. And then in the second part, when Ayat wants Harry to come over for an official love confession with family members, Harry disappears. It went out to be monotonous and the question in mind was, what next? It seemed like a tit for tat situation !

The strangest part is that during all the bad happenings, may it be in Kashmir or Gujarat, Ayat is present to experience it. The whole story seemed deliberate and not acceptable in some parts.

The role of Rajjo can be tagged as an important one. She plays a subtle villainous role without whom the story couldn't be stretched up to the extent it did. Though she is married, she still carries a soft corner for Harry who is in love with Ayat. Her grudges explode as a revenge against Ayat when she burns off a letter written by Ayat to Harry.   

The unacceptable ending makes all the 'little bit good' go down the drain. How possibly does a man with a paralyzed left hand climbs up a giant wheel to save a kid? Even if we let go off that part, how does he catch hold of the kid with that same left arm and come down safely? Weird it is !!

I wouldn't even call it a one time watch because if you don't watch this movie you wont be missing much of anything in life except for Shahid sporting a moustache!

Rating: '*' (1/5)