~ Reflections ~

Are you an aggressive person ?!? So what happens when you suddenly start behaving like a submissive person... Do you appear to be a stranger to yourself  (pun intended)...  Or do you just enjoy the indecisive follow the leader kind of approach. More importantly.. is it sustainable ?

In the Corporate world, I have learnt the hard way that the more you are conscious about your/your team's gender, the more people try and take you for a ride. There is no limit to all the nonsense... You try to be careful, and you are told you are distant... You avoid social gatherings, only to be reprimanded that you are anti social... I am often left wondering if the people would give the same responses if the person on the other side was a male. Conveniently, since a majority of most workplaces are filled with men and sprinkled with women, even a random poll would have unfavourable results. So I have finally concluded that I don't care.. Don't care about what others think.. or what they 'expect' from the girl next door, or rather at the next desk....  Of course I am not worried about intimidating men.  The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.    ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

I understand a person's urge to do certain things.. to scratch and itch.. to click fingers.... to crack their knuckles... I get all that..  But I somehow can't seem to get over this urge hoards of people seem to have to grab a drink on Friday night to unwind....  Don't get me wrong, I am not against the idea of relaxing with friends over food and drinks.. but the primary objective always remains catching up... catching up isn't the excuse ! But now, Friday nights have been presenting a new nightmare... it is the jam close to our place thanks to a new 'state owned' liquor shop.... Every Friday, the place crowds up like there is no tomorrow... needless to say the joy in parking their vehicles inorder to successfully block all traffic.... I wonder what is the basis of these licenses the government doles out licenses for such liquor stores. There are already 3 such stores in a 2 km radius, and this is not including the 'sophisticated' wine selling ...

When your mind goes blank But your feet won't stop Churning words in your head which won't tumble out Angry thoughts lead on to frustrated actions The hurt in your head just suddenly hurls out Instantaneously frustration  becomes guilt The words lashed out were not meant to hit Yet no words will add up now As the demon in your head has taken a new form.

One verdict.. and your world turns upside down.. Suddenly, your plans seem to be a far away thought..  all focus shifts to the immediate obstacle.. But for someone who always believed and going with the flow... with a kind of preconceived notion that whatever happens, happens for the best... I am beginning to wonder if this attitude lacks the aggression and ferocity needed to face challenges..... Maybe one rethinks everything once in a while.. Call it catharsis... call it review & renewal... Source: https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=rhan543

What would you do if someone asked you to appraise yourself.... will you do what the word is trying to say i.e. ap'praise' yourself (considering your next years salary, and in some cases the job, is dependent on it !) or will you take a step back and actually do what it takes. It is very easy to say that what we write is genuinely what we believe has been our contribution... but more often than not (unless we are delusional), we know the truth about where we stand... This is not just true about our professional lives but also our personal lives... So how do we do an honest one, atleast in our personal spaces... because it doesn't seem easy to take a step back and look at the situation and how one is faring.... Mirror mirror on the wall... who is the fairest of us all !

Words are a very powerful tool, but how the words are used makes them even more powerful...  Poetry and Prose are the perfect example.. the shorter the better.... So when I recently read these lines in Colson Whitehead 's Underground Railroad , they struck a chord... ... a visitation of a magnificent presence, a seeker awaiting a message. A conservation between an acorn, a sapling, and a powerful oak.... Poems are too close to prayer, rousing regrettable passions. Waiting for God to rescue you when it was up to you. Poetry and prayer put ideas in people's heads that got them killed, distracting them from the ruthless mechanism of the world.... Though there is a wide body of work by many poets, including famous Bards and Barons, but this Lady is one of the best. Fame is a fickle food Upon a shifting plate Whose table once a Guest but not The second time is set Whose crumbs the crows inspect And with ironic caw Flap past it to the Farmer’s corn ...

How do you draw the line between purpose and pleasure...  What if you find pleasure in your purpose... Or better still, purpose in pleasure.. Does that belittle the pleasure or the purpose ?!?

Read this on Facebook recently... Written by Philip John ... It is not the way it is written, but more about what he tried to say that rang a bell.... Alone in the World She writes a poem for her lover. She thinks it is a good poem. When she sends it to her lover he says, “Thank you, it’s nice.” As though she had given him not a poem but a cup of tea. Why, he should be grateful. How many people can say they have lovers who write poems for them? She feels alone in the world of her poem that perhaps only she truly and fully understands. Later that week she discovers her favourite writer is going to be present at a literary festival. Finally, a chance to hear him speak, perhaps even meet him. At the festival she manages to have a word with him while he autographs her book. Many people complained they did not “get” the writer’s last book. But she loved the book and she tells the writer this. “Thank you for writing this book,” she tells him. “When an artist of your caliber writes ...

We ultimately want the same thing in life...  To be wanted and to have someone we want next to us in our lives.... Through the many changes in life, it is very difficult to say when or how these people keep changing, sometimes bringing back the same old people.... as if nature need one more way to tell us that what goes back comes back ! The tricks our mind plays, directly and subconsciously to be the one, is amazing... and sometimes even amusing.... 2 March 2018