~ Reflections ~

We all like being the front runner... or atleast a part of the action... right in the middle of the hustle bustle... hoping that we wouldn't miss out on anything... That is natural tendency... So when you end up taking the backseat... fading into the background... in view of the bigger picture... it is a tough decision to make... the only hope being this decision will not be in vain, and will not be forgotten... But what hurts the most, is that those who silently fade into the background without making too much of noise, are often forgotten a little too soon... in that they are not given credit for what is due... Though they are not the Hero of the show, they still are as much an essential part of the crew.... If only people would understand that most things are team work... and if someone is able to be a Hero is because someone decided to work in the shadows towards the same thing.

It is difficult to explain... We spend so much time with each other... we are part of each others growing up... We grow up.. get busy... run the rat race... Suddenly, one fine day, we realize that it is not the same... Unsure whether it is people have moved, or whether we have.. whether we disappeared in their daily landscape.. or they did in ours... But this feeling..... this nagging feeling.... hmmmmm.....

Holidays are therapeutic... They calm you down... they ease out the pace of our fast moving life and heart.. and give you time to think and assess, about what we are actually doing with it.. That been said, having the right company is equally important... If my holiday was because I was not satisfied with what I was getting out of life and needed to find an answer, the only company I'd need is myself, with probably a good book or a diary... But the same company could be a recipe for disaster if I was depressed and dissatisfied with the way my life was turning out.. Same person... different hues...

It's a generation disease.. more pertinent to our generation and the next.... our  multiple attempts to replace the human touch with machines.. This is partly caused by our hurried lives... due to which we often loose the plot as to what is the reason we are running this race... but it is also about our superiority complex... from hand drawn rikshaws to cars... hand woven cloth to mills... workers in factories to robots... we call it automation and efficiency... which is true... But is it really effective in all cases... I think this video says it all.... 

Couldn't resist sharing what Barkha Dutt recently said on the National Debate 2016 organized by The Telegraph in Kolkatta on Tolerance and Intolerance. She was spot on... Exactly what I was trying to say in News Today

As children, we epitomize our parents... but at the back of our head we also sort out their habits subconsciously into the ones you wish you'd get, and those you wouldn't want to inculcate. Imagine my surprise when, in a recent discussion with my parents, I realized that I had subconsciously started doing some of the things in exactly the way they do... except, as a kid, I didn't like it... What would you call it then... growing up ? inheritance ?  Or has my memory just dulled and I have chosen the path of convenience over the right one... All of us change with time.. but am wondering if I'll suddenly realize one fine day, that I've turned into a person I don't like ! 

I like travelling... different places... different people... different food :) Actually I revel in it... By places, I don't necessarily mean globetrotting... even different streets of Delhi qualifies... because each nook and corner seems to have a species of homo sapiens specific to that latitude and longitude, with a food specialty too... Chatting up with people is the perfect way to understand their ecosystem, and how they tick... My latest sample space of human curios are Ola/Uber drivers, who seem to belong to varied sects/segments of society, from college students to part time workers to fleet operators.... each of them has a different story to tell... and different side of the coin....

In the last few years, especially the last five years, Media, especially in India, seems to have turned a new leaf. With the availability of 24 X 7 news channels to feed, and 24 pages to print, there is a growing strain on content.  Terms like newsworthy and breaking news have been totally redefined, items and issues are openly plugged, without any scruples. When Gail Wynand openly accepted that he plugged an event or an issue, he was clear it was about circulation and making money. Now, all media personnel seem to have turned into the same Gail, atleast on paper. The other issue, which has become a bigger problem nowadays is the lack of unbiased narrative reporting, as the events panned out. What was earlier restricted to the center-spread of the newspapers (and to add, well modulated by the editors) has now become what is common content. Everyone has an opinion (which they did earlier as well), and are happy to express it on first page and prime-time, where one would h...

We fret over tiny things... we cry over minute issues... And then we face the big one... to realize it was all for nothing.... that all this strife was all for a peaceful life and a dignified death... whatever we might do, we Will end up... in that small piece of land.. 

What is Vertigo ? Fear of Falling ? Then why do we feel it even when the observation tower comes equipped with a sturdy handrail ?  No, vertigo is something other than the fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves. These lines from The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera  ring true to me... There is a thin line between the fear of doing something, and the fear because you realize you have the urge... despite knowing that the end result might not be very good. This is not an argument of the devil and the angel sitting on your shoulders... this is pure impulse... and the fear of the impulse... because suddenly, you face the moment of truth.