My Favourite Sin!

Vanity, my favourite sin.*

We meet so many people. So many good souls, proud souls, bad souls, weird souls (mostly), nice souls, etcetra, etcetra.
I've known all of the above and will continue to know.

A friend once told me this (thanks Rashmi), is that a person may not be proud but that does not mean they are not vain! So true! Vanity! A simple girl from a humble background, pretty, does a movie, dumps her boyfriend of many years to be with a popular guy probably half as good looking (Frieda Pinto - Slumdog Millionaire)! A gorgeous guy, leaves his girl, the one that supported his dreams, to screw some ugly lady on P3 (So many, don't make me count. Hello, Tom Cruise!). Hollywood (even Bollywood) divorce 'cause I'm better than you. I"M BETTER THAN YOU!

Strangely, we have the same anatomy, same bio chemistry, same physics to follow and yet we're so different! Where is the difference? It's simple. Vanity! All disastrous relations (man and woman, mother and child, father and child, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, master and mistress, man and animal, man and God, Bulls and Lakers!) all follow the same pattern - we all feel in some way "I'm better". Even when you get dumped - you think about all the bad things in your head that became true and you were right? Think again - were you right? Did you have the pride to say sorry - knowing you may not be wrong, but it would make things right? Did you have the pride to make that phone call that never happened till an e-mail told you were single? Did you have the pride to tell your parents that their out-dated ideas were not so bad because your salary hike was like charity from the organisation?

Pride - let me say this, is not about standing up for everything you say. Pride - is about changing what you believed (if you were wrong) and never giving up!

Don't mix the two.

Vanity, Definitely my favourite sin.**


P.S. I'm going to say more on this topic soon - and I don't care what you think, cause you don't matter! ;)

*&** Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate"

Industrial Waste!

Everybody talks about BPOs as an industry now. So in our industry hiring is like this.. training is like that.. employee benefits are so and so.. remuneration is so-so (really!).. and so on and so forth.

I've been doing this for 5 years now - I've had the chance of meeting the wise and the otherwise, and a lot of people I see, come in the latter category. I would give out specific instances but I'm too pussy for that (you know, with the meltdown and all).
Well I do come up with several terms for them now... some of them -
"My ass is where my mouth should be - so I talk shit all the time"
"I'm too frustrated - so I try to show everybody who is boss" (my wife kicked my ass this morning again - the bitch!)
"I'm too frustrated - so I'll let you walk all over me" (my wife kicked my ass this morning again - I'm beginning to like it!)
"I don't know the pronunciation of 'apparently' - but I like the sound of it and will replace every 'actually' in my sentence with 'ap-rent-ly' - (what does the word mean again???)
"I don't have a clue of what to do - so let me make it difficult for you to understand everthing I say"

INDUSTRIAL WASTE has a whole new meaning!

One.

I heard this one after really long - One by U2. Hmmm...

Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same
Will it make it easier on you
Now you got someone to blame

You say
One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
It's one love
We get to share it
It leaves you baby
If you don't care for it

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without

Well it's too late
Tonight
To drag the past out
Into the light
We're one
But we're not the same
We get to carry each other
Carry each other
One

Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much
More than a lot
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
We hurt each other
Then we do it again

You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should

One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers

One life
But we're not the same
We get to carry each other
Carry each other
One
One.

So much to say

Sometimes I have so much to say that I
Don't know what to say..
Don't know where to start..
Don't know who to say it to..
So I keep it to myself and forget!! Yes.. Just like that!

Alice

Today I was driving home from work and playing a CD Herbert burnt. The hip-hop has kept me company on many a long rides now. I usually go to the next track when I hear the begining of a song I may not like (very important - "may").

The music kept playing and suddenly came up something that sounded very familiar but not something I remember listening to on this CD - ALICE!! The song by the way is not "Who the Fuck is Alice", no matter what you think or claim to know! And it's been sung a few times, even once by a guy called Roy "Chubby" Brown!!! Before you start to investigate - I "googled" it up too.. so don't bother - I'm right!

So.... This song brought back many memories - not of Alice, but of the days when we'd listen to this song and think we were so bad! He He He.. Don't deny it! I even remember a whole load of my friends having this song on tape (ya, the good ol' tape) and they'd write the name on the cover as "Who the F*** is Alice", "Who the HECK is Alice", Who the BEEP is Alice", "Who is Alice" and then some of the greater beings amongst us knew it was just "Alice". And I swear I remember people writing "HECK" and "BEEP" - Losers!! Right?? Yes they were losers even back then! I think even I wrote it as one of them - People change alright!!

I was introduced to the song in 1995 at our class 8 christmas party. Right - Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas Party - Loads of chips (wafers to some), loads of areated drinks, samosas, cake, dhokla and everything good under the sun. My contribution? 20 rupees and sometimes my music player - I did have a "cool" one (music player)! The day would be crazy and to think it was immediately after our half-yearly exams, made it all the better! We'd dance like we had ants up our arses, with other men (perverts, back then they were boys - which I realise makes it sound even worse!) and sing along - way before paying 500 rupees for Karaoke caught up! Incidentally, Karoke was invented by a Japanese Guy!! I wonder why we have no world renowned rock/pop/anything bands from Japan? The day would end just like that - us sweating like pigs, hair messed like we came out of a storm, tired as dogs and yet no one cared! Every one, I believe atleast, went home happy!

We all have moved on since - I meet some of the guys from school now, hair well done, cloths crisp as those chips, singing along softly (if at all) to the music playing in the club. I cannot complain, I'm the same. Only same till I meet some of the guys I knew in school and I can sing along and sweat and dance. It was a good time!!

Funny, it took "Alice" to bring this back to me.

P.S. Who the fuck IS Alice?

Friends..

Here’s a story about me - a boy who was neither too good at sport nor noticeable for his literary abilities, he considers himself a bad singer and an even worse musician...
He’s played basketball for his college and football for a club, he boxed in school (and kicked some ass) and even once ran the 100 meters final in school (at the behest of his best friend, who was too scared of not being “Rex Lodurum”)! He sang in the school choir and learnt to play the drums, he won debates (when his girlfriend was like Shakespeare’s daughter) and wrote poetry (some still find them moving – he doesn’t remember any) and then he left it all behind and took up a job!
Dreams were killed and he doesn’t know why.
His friends haven’t changed from those days; it’s still them – Vikram, Gona and Lynell!
Vikram – The man without a boundary. You can’t put this man on leash! He’s too wild for anyone in this world! He’s never played a sport – but he still thinks he’s the best at one of them – SEX!! He’s so proud of his achievements that I’m worried about writing this. But his greatest quality (sorry women who’ve been with him) is his bad assed humour! Honest, that’s probably how they all fell for him! He’s dirty, he’s vocal about being dirty (Tarun knows Vik), and all the women love him for being dirty! As for me, HATS OFF! I’ve not been able to say a thing to my girlfriend that you’ve said to my girlfriend! I still wonder how he does it?????
But before you judge him – my friend is a lover! He’s loved every girl in his life as if they were his last. He doesn’t say badly about them after either. He’s single – but he’s still the funniest. I always say – he can make a table laugh! More to come...
Gona – The guy every girl would live her life with!!! REALLY!! He’s got a girl – Sonali. She’s almost like him. Good looking, carefree, in love, honest, mature, lovable, perfect, dependable and if I say anymore I’ll sound bi-sexual. I love him because of the way he is with her and I love her because of the way she’s with him... I wish I could be that way!
Gona and I have been best friend for 16 years now – and he never lets me down. I tell the world he’s clumsy, he takes it to another level! I’ve known people that never met Gona and yet fell in love with him because of I spoke about him to them. I feel like his pimp – but I never did it consciously! More to come...
Lynell – THE MAN!!! He looks like Luis Figo. He’s been the wildest among us! He’s not just a mad man – he’s insane. I hear he’s got himself a Moroccan girl named Lou – and he’s planning to get engaged! My mom loves Lynell like a son – and this is bad news for me!!!! Though Lou is very pretty – it’s gonna cause me sooo much grief!
Congrats my friend.. if you’ve picked her – she’s very lucky! I can’t say anymore! More to come...
As for me... I’m okay! More to come...

P.S. Why doesn't the term "Female bonding" exist??

Networking..

I met an old acquaintance the other day – and by the end of this you’ll know why I called this person an acquaintance;
He walked into me like I was his great pal from some age and then he left pointing in a very “50 Cent way” and said, “I’ll catch you on facebook bro”!! He didn’t ask for a contact number, an email ID, where I stay, no sir – nothing! FACEBOOK!!! I have nothing against the “information age” but then again where are the old simple things? So let’s cut the long story short – he didn’t catch me. Infact he missed by a mile.
I’m not “on” facebook and yes I know how it works! I don’t need to be in touch with anyone apart from the ones I’m already in touch with. I may sound like an ass hole but if you’re reading this I’ve proved my point already. If you’re sneaking into this you’ll have a very good idea about where to find me and if you don’t have an idea then I’m proving my point all over again!
Think about this – how many of the facebook friends that you have, spoke to you in the last one month or even better – a year! I agree the concept is brilliant, but then again so was the concept of the atom bomb! Okay maybe the analogy is a little extreme but what is this whole thing? It’s like a competition to be cool? And they even call your list of people “friends”!
I say again, I have nothing against this – just don’t ask me to join or try to “catch me bro” on facebook, orkut, WAYN, Hi-5, etc. I’m not a social networking person and I probably will never be. Here’s one for all my friends – the ones who’ve been around even when I got left behind, the ones who still believe in talking than writing on my wall or scrapping!
Here’s my side of the story and I’m sure more will disagree than agree. I don’t care and I’m sure you already know that!


P.S. Is there a difference between I don’t give a shit and I give a shit (for some of you shit can be replaced with fuck)