Life as I know it

The fundamental aspects of living might be governed by the indirect adoption of a socio-psychological theory. Most of us have grown up by being taught what would help us in achieving a stable foot in this slippery realm. On an account of teaching kids, one would notice, when at two the kid starts very keenly is looked at when he starts counting or muttering A for apple. Humans have a way of bringing up their young ones. As opposed to wild animals like cats or dogs who basically learn how to survive, survival is not that much of an issue for Humans. The problem is in adapting the choice of a way to survive. When put in a slightly different way, it accounts for one gets the liberty to make a living of his own or being carved into an individual that the society wants. 

There are a few salient aspects of growing up. When one is from a well to do family, there are socio-economic benefits such as quality eduction, latest gadgets for entertainment and international cuisine. On the other hand, if one is not from a well to do family, the amenities are a morphed form of what the others get. A kid in the slums can be found playing with broken toys, gadgets and a lot of other stuff which might not be kiddish. Growing up either in the slums or in an upper class, one is taught the way to live, find a place in the society.

By the time one has gained the conscience of appreciating what's around, the individual also has embedded into him the morphed psychological aspect of differentiating between good and bad. Instincts are governed by the societal definition of right and wrong. For instance, if a kid sees an apple on a tree, while the first instinct would be to pluck the apple, the action would follow the path of surveillance followed by secretive attempts to pluck the apple and run away unnoticed. The idea here is not expressing the sense of stealth, but the instincts. There are a lot of constraints imposed on an individual and a number of them curtail what naturally comes to mind. Apart from the constraints that are imposed a number of aspects are actually non-existent for the next generation. This is a change of era which happens. While in the 80's and 90's the concept of multistory buildings did not exist as much as it exists today. A house was not a flat but what today is called a villa. Being airy and spacious it gave a different atmosphere for living. Lawns, that are parts of gardens today, were parts of homes. The stadiums are the only place where one could go and play games like cricket and football, while a lot of kids in the 90's got the opportunity to play on empty grounds, which served as grounds for any game and for any age.

In the late 90's and earlier parts of this decade while most of the time that I spent was studying or thought that I was studying was much less a pain than the time I travel today. What took me 10 mins to travel now takes me more than an hour. And that too when there are much advanced modes of transportation. There was a pleasure in driving on the Fiat/ambassador and going on picnics. The difference between the picnics then and today is not something which is saddening but brutal. For any nature lover, things have become crazily insane. Places of scenic beauty and enchantment have started vanishing by the day. I believe that the moment a place is commercialized, it starts losing its values. 

When I traveled deep in the woods to see a waterfall, I had to take muddy paths that how today been replaced by concrete. The sweet smell of virgin soils have been bloodied with the plasticity of modern age. And to add insult to injury is the advertisement of saving nature. Nature is not a machine that can be fixed in seconds. It has its own mechanisms. While throwing away garbage in a garbage can might come to one as a sense of saving the planet, it does not count pretty much. We see our living rooms getting clean, but we don't see the garbage cans of nations getting full to the brim. The usage of products that can not be disintegrated naturally just adds to degrading whats around us. Taking a look at the sea beaches might give a better idea of what I am trying to bring out here.

The perspective of human mind has changed over the ages. What I see today is a world of impatient people. Every one is in a hurry and has a sense of deep pride in petty achievements. If one travels through the roads of a metro and finds himself blocked till the inch by automobiles all around trying to cut him off, its not a big deal. Persistent honking has replaced the sweet engine murmur. Until you are say around 30 kilometers of habitation, you might not understand what Nature is or should be like. The impatience of people is reflected in each and every corner of a city. Be it a theater or a restaurant, there is a sense of urgency in everyone. This is higher in metros and bigger cities than the smaller cities. Sometimes I believe that when I am going for a drive I am going for a battle. When you had the luxury of just steering your way through a two lane highway, today you might consider yourself lucky to be moving constantly on a sixteen lane expressway. I used to have a feeling that a vacation was more than a month and a short break was a week. But apparently a vacation is a weekend getaway and a short break is a day picnic. Sometimes I think of packing my bag, leaving my cell phone and plastic cards, and walk down the habitation in a hope that I might find myself in a place that has no sense of urgency and where people understand the meaning of life. Might be that the youth there are not as big brats there as in towns appreciating elderly people for their age and knowledge. 

The concept of relaxation has dropped dead to a computer and interactive devices. Barely do individuals head out for meeting friends and having a good time over a cup of tea rather than playing a game. Even when they go out half the time they are found out meddling with their handhelds. There is barely a sense of bonding and attachment left between individuals and has more transformed into a sense of bonding between the gadget and the human. A few decades down the line it might not be odd if a kid doesn't talk at all. Instead what would be found is a tweet of "xxx has joined the community nature lovers to express his joy and appreciation of mother nature". Life has a changed meaning and everything around me is more detached rather than attached. Even when I had fights with those I loved it was as though a factor of strengthening the relationship. Today, its more  like a fight rather than delight in most of the relationships. May be some day people would understand the meaning of bonding actually means a lot more than the gadget but the person interacting through the gadgets.  

Comfortably Lost

Statutory warning: Read at your own risk

A desire to not aspire,
Come clean out of any line of fire.
No wish of shiny sapphire,
But a sense of no desire.

Damsels in distress meeting no glances,
In the calmness created since ages.
The same old confusion boils the mind,
Like a seagull flying down blind.

The streets are all the new dimensions,
For any street car named desire.
But for reasons unknown,
Every street is just another satire.

A sweet smile sees a heavy scorn,
In the eye of an average moron.
The intellectual mind is in thought,
Of becoming that average moron.

Fight for the right,
Fight for the flight,
Fight through the day and night,
Hell who cares just sleep tight.

 

A Wanderer's Perspective & Random Ramblings

Important to note before you read: The stuff written is a perspective and not an actual reflection. The opinions expressed are personal and are not meant to have any impact on any person living or dead. 


Things have changed. I can no more lay around on my bed on weekdays from 7 in the morning to 8 in the evening.


I need to wake up so that I can leave home by 8:15 AM. The morning drive to the office is not as crazy as the evening drive sometimes becomes. I take the MG road and follow it till IIT turn, upto which life's chill. The moment you take that right turn the traffic starts to get slow and it gets really slow by the time you have taken the turn for Nehru Place and hit it. For no reason whatsoever, for a 3 lane road people start blocking the left lanes, which starts choking the right lanes as well. And the worst part is that on the right lane is a U-turn, which if you take by mistake, cripples you for a drive of good long 30 mins. From Nehru Place till the left turn for Okhla the traffic normally moves like a tortoise. You should call yourself lucky if you go to the 2nd or 3rd gear. The drive finally ends joyfully because once you enter the industrial area, its like butter and you get to take your car to the 5th gear. When I am lucky I hit the office at around 9:20 AM and when I am not I hit it around 9:45 AM.


The first thing you need to revive your energy levels is a cup of tea. You can have a machine tea/coffee and a smoke if you want. The time in the morning is typically very productive. There is less noise as people are either busy having tea or breakfast or just making plans for the day. Until midday its typically a silent environment in most firms.


There are two generic reasons that I think apply for coming late to office(observations - self and others):

• Firstly, mostly people are lazy by habit. I have known a lot of colleagues and seniors who just wait till the last moment to get things started. The problem is that as far as possible we want to enjoy it. The repercussion is that you end up spending more time at your workplace, which leads to leaving late, which further effects the time you sleep and finally the time you wake up.So till midday there are practically only those people who have made a habit of maintaining an early morning schedule arrive office. Majority of the people reach office in between 11 AM - 12 PM. I am not referring to a single firm here.  
• Secondly, psychology changes are bound to have an affect. Have you noticed how your job life is governed by the job life of others? Are the timings that you follow, the timings that your team or boss follows? Do you think it really has to be so? Haven't you thought - Why do I need to come early, when I anyways have to leave late?

Past midday these days I usually am very hungry and by that time I would have already finished a major portion of the work. The lunch sessions are the best sessions in any corporate. It's a sharing platform. You need to discuss something and you typically have food with someone you are comfortable with. When you are with such a person/person(s) you feel like just uploading/downloading all the available information. The greater interest lies in finding out all the so called confidential stuff. For instance who got how much? who is leaving? what happened in the meeting? etc. This is for those who are at the junior levels. The senior level people try to maintain a distance so that they are not caught up being asked questions which they typically don't want to answer. Alternately, they are too busy to have a comfortable lunch. And even here there are exceptions - a rare variety who actually understand the importance.


The lunch is either followed by a short walk/smoke or you end up rushing back to work realizing that there is a tonne of work remaining. Barely an hour or two goes by that you realize that you are feeling quite sleepy. There has to be a tea session in the afternoon, even for those who are cramped with work. It is more of a requirement than a luxury.


The actual fun begins post that. This is time when people actually start working. They realize that if it continues this way they wont be leaving before midnight. So you again have silence for a couple of hours. At the scheduled leaving time, few of those who come early pack up and leave. They face the scorn of those back at work. The problem is that mostly it is thought that the guy leaving early doesn't have work. The reality being, either he actually ain't have any work or he was smart enough to utilize the time and finish his job. Majority of this group includes women. Not that men don't fall under this category. But typically its a socio-psychological factor that women should leave early. The fact is typically that women also come on time and try to work as hard as possible to wrap up their work on time. Men typically have a gala time with them as far as possible and when they leave, they realize that the work needs attention. This is not specifically what happens though. What happens is that men are considered to have the ability to stretch and stick till the time required. They also don't shy from believing so. There are a couple of other factors also.


There are few men who come early and leave late. They are men (there are some women as well) who portray a sense of ownership and responsibility setting examples (can't really say good or bad) for others. There are few men who come on time and are sincere enough to wrap their work and leave on time. This is a particularly weak fraction of the entire population. Either they are damn smart to have the breaks and complete the job in the stipulated time or they are really hard working who manage their time without taking breaks to finish their work on time. More particularly, this is the section of people who are married and have a family.


I try to leave as early as possible. The reason being if I leave late I have face a heavy traffic, which is also the case for a number of people. Driving back home is a tedious affair. The problem in evening/night driving is that people are tired and much less patient as compared to in the morning. You need to make sure that you don't hit/get hit by the random biker/cyclist on the route. What stresses me is the lack of patience people have. If there is the tiniest possible gap, that has to be filled. There is a big jam and the guy at your back is honking for no reason whatsoever. There is a guy who has to take a right turn but he wouldn't be allowed to. The ridiculous part is that people don't realize the fact that they themselves are jamming the road. What will happen if you block the right lane of an open bi-way road? There are instances when its actually a maze. Cars in between cars from all directions and wild honking here and there. Anyways I manage a drive back in about 15 mins more than my morning drive. The best part is parking the car and getting back home and having that cup of tea. You are relaxed and when its Friday you have no pain to think about waking up the next day. It's fun and frolic till Sunday night :D