A bad day and a good doctor...

A sleepless night followed by a long day at work, a terrible drive back home, and every other imaginable thing to take your day from bad to worse. We've all had more than our fair share of those. Bad days are quite common these days, given the kind of lives we live. And meeting a person who's been having a bad day only makes it worse. It spreads like wild fire. From one body to another, and sometime we end up doing something that we regret for a long long time... I don't need to quote examples here, we'll all been there and have done that....

However, there is another side. There is a breed of people who are unaffected by all this rage and madness, and they have instead chosen to spread love and peace and joy through their actions. I recently decided to join swimming. This required me to get a medical fitness form signed by a doctor. So after a particularly bad day, I decided to walk down a busy Mumbai road to find a doctor who would certify me as medically fit. Usually, one can get these forms signed for a few bucks and forego the medical proceedings (Or you can start believing  that your doctor does in fact posess x-ray / MRI vision).

After being turned by a rather-fancy looking place where I would've certainly parted with a few Rs. 100 bills, I decided to go to one of the not-so-great looking tiny-little place. So far, my day seemed to only be getting worse and the long wait didn't seem to help. When I first caught a glimpse of the doctor, he was easily the oldest looking doctor I had seen and was even having trouble walking properly. Once again, the day wasn't starting to look any brighter. 

At this point I must mention something that I read in a book ages ago; A Paradigm Shift. I'm not sure about the book, but it attempts to identify situations where the introduction of a fact, or the transpiring of an event changes the way a person thinks about a situation. So coming back to my day, I was up next to meet the doctor, and he quickly looked me over and decided that I was in fact fit to swim. Next, I asked the doc how much I owed him. He looked at me and after a pause, said "Hundred Rupees." I started reaching for my wallet and he looked at me and smiled and said "Arre Kuch nahi, Aap achhi cheez karne ja rahe ho (Nothing, You're off to do something good), I'm glad to help." 

Enter Paradigm Shift. In that single sentence the sweet old man made my day and ensured that I was smiling all the way back home and for the rest of the day, which is more than anything that anyone could have done for anyone after a bad day :). That man obviously hadn't set up that lil clinic to make money. He genuinely wanted to help people. And I'd like to believe he was more than a doctor, he was... he is a healer. He definitely healed me that day. Thank you sir. If only the world had more people like you...

The "Funniness" of English

So after a month of my alleged return, I am finally writing my first post this year, as a married man :). Although, I must mention that this post has absolutely nothing to do with marriages and weddings n all. 

In his movie Namak Halaal  Amitabh Bachchan talks at length about the funniness of English. Here's the clip from the movie 

However, in India, the funniness of India goes much beyond a little light-hearted humor. It seems almost crazy, that something like language the define the status of a person. For ages now, English has been a language reserved for the higher class. It's really funny that to most of us, a French or an Italian who can barely put together a sentence of English is "better" than the person sitting next to us in a bus or on a train. 

Why is it that a non-English speaking European is okay, but an Indian who talks "funny" is just unacceptable.... Why do we find the Indian version of non-English repulsive? The reasons, although unclear, seem to have divided the people of our country even further. 

Return !!

I'm back! And this time I'm not alone. A little over a month ago I married the love of my life and all's well... So since I have something in mind, something I wanna blog about, I'm just gonna cut this post short and get to it...

No more posts :(

I hate to inform everyone that I won't be writing any more blogs.... till around 15th of November that is :D...

In a freak accident I managed to destroy my modem and now I have no way of going online while at home, and I can't be caught blogging while I'm at work... So laterz...

Intervals

A lot has changed ever since I was first introduced to my first television set. Although I can't actually remember the first time I saw a TV, so as far as I'm concerned it has been there all along... just like the trees and the sun and the stars... An interesting phenomenon that came from television was the concept of intervals, a slot fueling the programmes that we get to watch... time for ads, for the channel to let us know what else it has in store for us.

In a way people's lives have started revolving around these intervals... They have been for quite some time... It's around 8ish in the evening and somewhere a mother (fathers too now) is busy preparing a meal, trying to fight against the clock, ensuring that she doesn't have to go leave the table once the family sits down for the meal. The clock strikes 8, the family has gathered at the table, the television is on and their favourite family show offering the best of people singing, crying, back-stabbing, or whatever...

Talking is now forbidden, and nobody moves until the first 10 or 15 minutes are over and it is time for a break.... The countdown begins... Everyone scurries about heading for the kitchen or the bathroom or wherever they wanted to go... It won't be long before the programme will resume and order will be restored... It's like a game of musical chairs, only there is no music... it is only the television. And come to think of it, the advertisers / channel programmers are the controllers... but it isn't all bad, cuz everyones a winner....

Also, when watching a long movies... intervals aren't so bad... they let you stretch your legs, relieve yourself, get munchines etc etc.... However, they can prove to be quite irritating and annoying when watching a suspense filled murder mystery and the intervals appear at all the right times...

But thanks to the technological advancements, over the past few years I have added quite a few movies and TV Series to my collections. You can now go out and buy entire seasons of your favourite programmes and go through 10-20 episodes in a single day!! And at the end of the day you'd realize... "What a terrible waste of time!!! I could've done so much. If only there were intervals!!" So in a way, I miss those intervals and intermissions.... They allowed me to do so much more with my time... I mean, I do enjoy watching ads too ( I have too :D) but intervals will always be time-management tools to me :D ....

No Topic

The title of the post is not what it is cuz I cudn't come up with something better. It's called "No Topic" because it's about nothing. It's about nothing cuz I have nothing to write about. And that, is a very very strange phenomenon. Almost a month ago I when I was in India, I had several things to write about, but ever since I came here I seem to be drawing a blank.

I go for long walks, I cook my own meals, I watch TV even though nothing good's ever on, and I can't seem to find about anything! How pathetic is that. This is the pits! I'm actually writing about the fact that I have nothing to write about, and you're actually reading it, and I've finished almost two complete paragraphs...

So... No, it's not really about nothing, it's about me trying to figure out why is happening. So it's essentially "Life in Mumbai "vs "Life in Livingston".

First, Life in Livingston... To but it briefly, it's easy... It's a tiny little village in a tiny country. However, being a village is no reflection whatsoever on the type of facilities that it has to offer. It's like any other modern city with wifi hotspots, malls, movie halls, designer clothes.... everything.. just smaller.... I'm yet to see a building that has more than 4 or 5 stories. Huge open land covered with the greenest variety of grass, tall spotless trees, the cleanest roads I have ever seen and a handful of human beings. 

Zipping back to Life in Mumbai.. In one word... Mess.. And that too of the best kind. A place where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Home to more people than the entire population of UK ( and perhaps Ireland too). Horrible weather, the land of perpetual traffic snarls, a pedestrian's nightmare. It is considered to be one of India's most developed cities, and yet ironically basic amenities like water and electricity are far from being basic. A city that is unworthy of being called a city. 

However, Livingston gets very boring, very fast. Life here is almost the same everyday. It doesn't change. The landscape was beautiful yesterday, and will be beautiful tomorrow as well. It doesn't offer the sense of adventure that an Indian city like Delhi or Mumbai can. Living under a  constant threat of being killed by a flood, or being run over by a car, or a train, or stampede (at Dadar station)  is probably what inspired me to write. 

All the people who work here do so many exciting things like sking or some form of water sports. If you leave work at 5 or 6 and strictly work 5 days a week, and live in boring, never-changing villages then you'd need to do something like that. Building their own cars, their own homes, their own furniture... Who the heck has that kind of time in India??? And even if we did get off at 5 or 6 every day, the ride back home is enough to ensure that the rest of the evening is ruined. 

So when compared, Mumbai, or for that matter, any other Indian city really really sucks compared to even a tiny little scottish village, or suburb. But still, I miss my India. It was where I was born and brought up. I miss the sense of adventure, I miss the people, I miss the culture... Because when I was there, I was completely unaware that life could actually be so simple. When 

I flick a switch, the bulb will always come to life (Yes, I know, unless it's fused. Ha ha very funny.. Pay attention. I'm making a point!!). When I turn a tap, water will always come rushing through. Winters, although colder than India's are much more comfortable, becuase everyone is better prepared, with central heating. The roads and  houses were built to withstand the rain. There is no dust. I've been here for a month and I haven't had to polish my shoes yet. Houses are cleaned only once a week, sometimes even lesser. 

Why can't India have all that? It just hurts so very much to see how far behind we are. At times I think I'd probably be happier had I never come here. Ignorance, as they say, is bliss. Drive in Mumbai, and you can drive anywhere in the world, they say... Try driving here, where almost everyone follows the traffic rules like their life depends on it... Wait a minute... it does depend on it! Everyone's does... Even in India... Yet, we like to believe that we're immortal... and we're unwilling to learn from the tens of thousands of deaths on India's roads...

I think I know what the problem is. We Indians, all of us, we're a bunch of cowards. We're happy with what we have. "The country is rotting away, but it isn't my problem as long as I get my salary and Cable TV every month, and as long as I can party." We have all become experts at ignoring whatever is wrong and have learnt to live with whatever life throws at us, or takes away. Life in Mumbai is a testament to that fact. When I hear someone say "You'll hate Mumbai at first, but eventually it kinda grows on you" I feel like knocking out that person. All that means is that eventualy, you'll give up and get used to all the pain and suffering. 

It's time to evolve people. Not individually, but as a nation. Everyone wants more, but only for themselves. It's time to want more for India. It's a long journey, and I have no idea about the how, what and the when, but I think a good start would be if we all started saying "Thank You" and "Sorry". So drop that ego and be nice to your fellow human. 

Wow, so much for not having anything to write about. The reason why I can't write about anything because there isn't anything to write about. I can't help but compare this place withIndia. And I don't want to. I don't want to be an NRI who has left and has given up on his country, but I don't know what to do either. All I do is write, and hopefully enough people will read this post and maybe something will happen. Maybe it will start the much needed revolution... Maybe I'll have something more to write about someday...

Being a Man

I've been in Scotland for over a week and haven't touched a drop of anything alcoholic, or anything cold for that matter. In fact, I haven't had any coffee either. I love coffee ! I used to have 3-4 mugs of coffee on any given day. Many of my friends back home go "Tsk Tsk Tsk". Yeah, so my being unwell was a large factor contributing towards my restraint, however, I feel good. I've been out of college for 5 years now and I refuse to look at alcohol as some kind of a party game. I never was a drunkard or anything, I just enjoyed drinking. No pressure, no emotions, just a few drinks every once in a while, though not too often, and that's it.

But I can see that drinking has become, or is becoming a problem with most of my friends, who simply cannot seem to do without it. Over the past few months, my drinking has gone down significantly. A person who cannot hold down over half a bottle of whisky, or refuses to drink, is considered "unmanly". Of course, the experts deciding this, are on the the better side of the other half of the bottle. What does drinking alcohol have to do with being a man? I know women who can drink more than a few pitchers and then walk back home like nothing ever happened. What does that make them?

Being a man, is not about pulling off foolish stunts, it's not about guzzling down booze, or stuffing food down your throat... Genetically, men are stronger than women. Does that give men the right to take advantage of women on the streets? Some "men" seem to think so. I heard in some movie, "With great power, comes great responsibility." In my book, any man who takes advantage of anyone weaker than him is hardly worthy of being called a man, and such a specimen should be caught and publicly castrated.

Perhaps the punishment is a little too harsh, but it is every man's duty and responsibility to protect the people around him. Children, the elderly, even innocent animals and women. Especially women. It shames me to see the number of crimes committed on women by men. Many a times I wish that one such man would cross my path. I would set such an example that... Anyways, I'm not trying to promote violence, however, when a man forgoes one of the purposes of his existence, then he must be made an example of.

So I say this... A man, is one who protects those around him, and treats them with great respect. A man is one who is aware of his powers and his capabilities, and everyday, consciously chooses to use them for the benefit of others. A man is one who sees and understands the pain of others and does everything he can to rid the person of it. A man, is a protector of all that he stands for. So where the hell does drinking and smoking come into the picture? Those are just masks, for cowards to hide behind. Not that drinking is bad.. :D, but to think that it makes you man, is a cowardly act... So go ahead... Be a Man, a real Man !!!