21st Century Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there lived humor. It was here, there and everywhere. Humor would often show up in nibble conversations, a glimpse on some lips and a theatrical performance when friends met up.

It was a great friend of the freedom of expression. There would always be some misunderstandings between the two. Yet they made up and were almost inseparable.

Some decades back, Humor’s friend was attacked and sent to exile.  Since then, humor started living a trembling life, unsure of where and when to show up. He missed his friend terribly. They would often meet but not in public anymore. Only in known and trusted circles. Despite their best efforts, one of them would be caught and tortured.

They only realized that they would have to endure this bashing to stay alive. They both knew they can’t give up. They can’t die. No matter how much they get targeted and tormented. Not yet.

Somewhere amidst all the mayhem, they got a second lease of life. A third friend had come to their rescue. “Freedom of expression” & “Humor” really thanked their stars and their HERO; The Social Media.
Or so they thought, until they met one other contrived mate, The “Physical Social Life”. Before they realized the gravity of the situation, they were trapped.

Humor and Freedom of expression are both only seen in the Social Medial these days.
Any other public appearance is condemned and ridiculed.
Their mate (Social LIFE) is silently suffering and may go into a coma soon.

The three of them have to come together for a Heroic Rescue to resurface and establish themselves back in the society.

The last heard news was that they are looking for volunteers to get them out in the open and release them from the trap to live a life of respect and dignity.

Each one of you is free to volunteer. For any further information, contact your inner self and leave out a smile every now and then.

Once they reunite and are rescued, we will all live Happily Ever After!

Spread the Cheer!

In a country of 1.3 billion, everyone’s an expert in critiquing, providing comments and passing judgments. Yet perfection is an elusive concept. Creating winners looks like an impossible dream.

Every little act including as lame as someone’s dressing style invites all of the above. Comfort and preference completely overruled.

I hear people say that we don’t have a global brand like Starbucks or McDonald's or Wal-Mart etc.

Statistically, anything we do as one nation is easily the 2nd largest in the world – purely by our population status. Our chain of local “baniya” (grocery) stores has to be the largest in the world. It’s just not branded. But is that really the objective? OR catering to the local needs is? With so much diversity, differences in taste, aspirations and lifestyles, why should we yearn for standardization? Why can’t we pride in this localization? As a matter of fact, these so called standard chain stores have localized to Indian tastes. Where else would you get a Vegetarian Rice bowl in KFC?

We are a nation that takes pride in being aware. Our youth maybe ignorant on world economic issues and the depleting ozone layer and its consequences, but our youth is probably most aware of the situation in their immediate environs. The survival instinct is too strong and that’s precisely why we Indians can survive in any country and can adapt to any climate, overcome any language barrier and abide by the local rules and regulations. India may never have been good at documenting and data analytics but we are the best and quickest learners. How many countries can claim that? Introspection is good but instead of continuously looking at our flaws, what would happen if we realize what our strengths are and nurture them to the extent that our flaws are managed within acceptable limits. 

Focus on the positives instead of fretting over the negatives.

In a training session, one of my various “Gurus” mentioned a brilliant example.

A tennis player has to play using both his forehand and backhand. Usually one is stronger than the other. Imagine someone being strong at forehand but loses points each time the ball ends up at backhand. Instead of fretting over improving his backhand to perfection, the player should simply work on his strong forehand so much so that the opponent finds it difficult to return his shots; does not mean that he ignores his weakness completely. The player should ensure he improves to just about manage to return the backhand shot. If passion can drive both to excellence, that’s a whole other story.

The analogy quite hit me.

We instruct more “Don’ts” than “Do’s” while raising a child. When inducting a new employee, in the name of mentoring, we end up critiquing one’s grammar, dressing style and fonts/color choices in a presentation but how often have we appreciated the thought / idea behind it. That’s usually lost (not always). We end up focusing so much on highlighting and improving one’s weaknesses that the strengths are LOST or hidden.

Instead, if we only focus on the positives, what would happen? Just imagining the situation gives me goose-bumps. The amount of positive energy would be immense and possibilities would be endless.

Yet again, it’s not my attempt to solve World Hunger OR change the system or anything silly like that.

Let’s do these OURSELVES first. Try telling someone (your friend, spouse, sibling, colleague) 5 positives about them. And obviously count your own. If it’s difficult, time to do something about it. If it’s easy, keep on increasing the count and spread the cheer.

Life @ 33% Discount

As a kid, I always used to fancy eating cookies and “ham”burgers without knowing its ingredients.
Thanks to my comic reading addiction, the craving got stronger with each book. Then I realized that the craving was not because I was reading comics all the time. But because it was not available at that time – let alone easily.

Then I noticed a correlation. During exams, I would be refrained from watching TV and would be asked to concentrate on my syllabus for the upcoming exam. The more the refrain, the more I would feel like rebelling and watching TV while as such I never gave a damn.

Then when I started to work, in various companies, I noticed a difference in culture.
Some would provide coffee and tea to employees but only twice a day or some would let the employees pay. A few would have vending machines for people to have “as much” tea/coffee as possible free of cost. That was the first time I heard this debate that the ease of access will increase the demand in the initial stages while in the long run, it will actually bring it down. And that was indeed the case.

In the pretext of enjoying the privilege of a free tea/coffee, I did not realize two things. I got sucked into work so much that I did not measure the time spent at work. I also never bothered the amount of tax that I was actually paying. I’m not careless to ignore the direct taxes. It’s the indirect taxes that I never paid attention to, let alone understand it. Come to think of it, I still don’t.

Recently, I read a survey that says vis-à-vis the standard 33% direct tax; we actually end up paying more than 55% of our income as taxes in various forms and shapes.
If we apply the coffee vending machine logic, the very first time someone found out loopholes in our taxation structure and evaded tax, instead of making it any complex, had they simplified it, we would have ended up paying 55% direct taxes. At least we would not have felt cheated with a fake 33%.
Must say, this 33% is an elusive number.

Another interesting correlation is that we are supposed to sleep for 8 hours of a day. We are supposed to work for 8-9 hours. Technically we have the remaining 7-8 (33%) hours to enjoy LIFE.
Do we?

We spend more number of hours in the office for this elusive 33% of LIFE. Eventually, it boils down to 10 days of vacation with effortless interruptions by mails on our smartphone and intermittent calls.
10 days out of 365 days is a mere 2.7%.
Some smarty pants have declared the 52 weekends (28%) as a part of our holiday or enjoying LIFE.
We still don’t have the 33% life for which we literally slog our butts off.
So what are we running for?



Maybe to sit on a comfortable chair and tap such silly thoughts on a fancy laptop… Hmmm!

Words

Words are not mere words
They're wings of the fantasy birds
Weighing emotions, shaken or stirred
Of a simpleton, poet, geek or a nerd

Sometimes clear, sometimes blurred
They emote the tears well captured
A story that can't be ignored
Or a song that pulls you toward

A glaring jab, that can't be unheard
Or a taunt hurled towards the undeterred
Words are not just words
They can be sharper than the swords

Healing relations that are soured
After attempts first, second or third
The power to have faith restored
To inspire, woo or to be floored

An imagination yet to be explored
For all the situations on board
Initial ideas on the drawing board
Idioms and phrases that can be adored

Words are not just mere words
They are wings of the fantasy birds
Cutting through the shackles and the girds
After all, they are sharper than the swords

Ego – Ew! Go...

There’s a lesson in everything
As a student, if you are carefully observing
There’s a hidden message in gravity
In success, urging one to stay grounded and display humility

Great icons have demonstrated through their way of life
It is one’s thoughts and actions that rise above the strife
Wise men hardly bothered the way they were clad
They emphasized to stretch a helping hand and make someone glad

Expectations binges one’s self-esteem into obesity
Thrusts actions that can jeopardize one’s dignity
There may be a reason it is called ‘ego’
I can hear myself cry “Ew!” “GO’

Gratitude, in itself, is an attitude
Be unique and establish your own latitude
There’s a lesson in everything you see
There’s so much to learn without a fee

Let's "Know" the "No"

As kids, When we visit someone and the hosts offer us something to eat/drink, we're taught to say "No" even when we don't really mean it. The hosts are supposed to coax us into accepting it. The host's act has different words in different languages. "Aagrah" in marathi or "upachara" in kannada,
THIS is the real root cause of a chronic problem we have today.
The sad part is, if the host does not coax well, they are also termed as rude and hostile.

Traditionally, we don't know to say a Firm "NO" and also accept and understand a "NO".
There are no variations in a NO.
NO usually means NO - simple.
But we are trained to complicate these things. (What's new?)

This behavioral trait unfortunately manifests itself in all situations as we age.

Add to this the numerous jokes that our family makes during all weddings and/or related functions where they dramatize the way bride and groom meet. This obviously is also glorified enough in our films. Regional and mainstream.

Yet again, the bottom-line is - when a girl says no, we hear success stories encouraging one to go ahead and coax her into saying a yes. The supposed pure intent in the attempt is what matters.

OK, let's look at something else.
The other misunderstood concept we have is the 'sense of humor'.
Most don't know the difference between humor, satire and ridicule.
In the name of humor, many wisecracks say stuff that puts a lot of pressure on the ones that it is directed at. This again happens in schools, colleges, hostels and also at workplaces.

Here too, if someone feels offended and says a NO, who's to understand that?

It's time, as responsible citizens, we try and correct this situation for the coming generations.
At least amongst ourselves. It'll solve a lot of issues on hand. I'm sure I don't need to detail them out here.

Let's know a "No" - Say it, mean it and Zip it!

The Party - A Sriks' Short Fiction

As I was getting ready to log off, I saw a red dot on my blackberry screen that announced the arrival of a mail in my mailbox. The blinking red dot has an almost hypnotic effect. You just cannot ignore it, no matter how hard you try to. So I gave up and opened it.

 “Dear Friend,

It’s a pleasure to announce that one of my works has been acknowledged by the Creative Academy as the Best in its category. I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and encouragement directly or indirectly. These days “Sharing” & “Liking” on Facebook is quite a support that has given quite a few some commercial successes.

In addition to the Thanks, I would also like to throw a party on the forthcoming Saturday for all my well-wishers.

Venue: The Famous Town Park

Time: 05:00 am

Dress Code: Casuals with sports shoes.

Kindly RSVP

Yours truly

Humble achiever”

I checked the keyboard layout on my laptop and also on my blackberry to see if the alphabets “a” and “p” were close enough to miss. They were poles apart on both the devices.

I rubbed my eyes and checked the time again. It indeed read 05:00 am…. and not 05:00 pm.

I was curious to know what kind of a party is held in the morning. I called my friend to confirm. My various attempts to reach her failed. Her phone was either not reachable or was beyond coverage area.

On the said day and time, I hesitantly made it to the venue expecting to be mocked at. But there were signboards giving directions to the party place and a grand banner with something that looked like the Party Theme. 

As I crossed each signboard, I heard the heavy bass from the outdoor speakers. As I went close, the music was clearer. It was not the regular trance or dance numbers I’d heard in the evening parties. The music was foot tapping nevertheless.

So, there was a DJ.

Most of the guests were dressed in athletic attire. Some like me, who do not possess an athletic body, were in loose T-Shirts and track pants, promptly showing off the sports shoes.

I noticed a bar-counter at the other end of the earmarked area. Without my knowledge, my legs started to measure the ground towards the bar. Quite a few guests were queuing up for the drinks. I noticed, there were no refrigerators or coolers, only blenders and a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. This bar served fresh juices and mock-tails blended with a variety of herbs.

There were well-dressed waiters walking around serving “starters” to guests. As I picked up a plate, it was a well-decorated salad.

My eyes were looking for the host. She was happily talking to some of her other guests while her family was busy organizing activities. Like in any regular party, the crowd was split in smaller groups, but here they were either running or walking as they interacted instead of picking a corner for a formal discussion.

I saw a few of them sitting together and doing some basic yoga-äsanas. Some elderly people were engaged in laughter therapy, while the kids were busy running around getting their dose of morning exercise.

Then, as the music changed and as if that was a cue, all the guests gathered and broke into an aerobic jig that looked almost like a well-choreographed dance number.

I was absolutely stunned at what I was witnessing. What a healthy way to celebrate.

I had so many questions racing in my mind.

Why are all parties hosted in the evenings or nights? Why do all the parties serve drinks and foods that are actually detrimental to health? Why do we invite each other over a coffee OR lunch OR dinner and indulge in gluttony?

I was overwhelmed with what I was experiencing.

Will I see more of these in the future? Or even better, will I host my parties around similar themes? Is this a business opportunity in itself?

I finally managed to get hold of the host friend and inquired about her achievements.

She had written a book on “Alternate ways to celebrate a Healthy Life”. That book and the concepts had won her accolades in the literary as well as health conscious circles.

Before I could ask her, she mentioned that this theme party was one of her innovative concepts, coined as “Life of Healthy Interactions”.

That’s when I understood the inviting banner at the entrance that read:

Get high with the ‘Life of Hi’