Being Human...

Not very long years ago, there used to be so much of clarity! Water was clear & so was the fire. Thoughts were clear & so was the communication. Clarity in thoughts, clarity in communication, clarity in needs & clarity in deeds. Later, human grew in all possible directions, up in the sky & down below the earth... and something was getting left while everything was going right. Right there, in the man’s mind... something was evolving... revolving!

The evolution led a human towards inventions, discoveries, unveiling the mysteries & ultimately, the world of machines. The machines – those started working as humans, leading humans to become more dependent, lazy, needy & greedy... they were born from human’s thoughts though. Aeroplane, radio, television, telephones, mobiles, calculators, computers and all modern & ultra-modern gadgets are bringing us closer, but are they really keeping us together?

The fast, revolving world is making us think too much & feel too little. We are humans, not machines.

It’s not a battle between men and machines... it’s a battle between men and machine-men - with machine-minds & machine-hearts! Humans are making good money today.... The misery is they are making money by using humans. Use machines.... don’t let them use us.

Before its too late, let’s be a human... not a machine!

Cheers!

- ab

Pobody’s Nerfect!

“Pobody’s Nerfect!” - A month back or so, I read it as a status message on WhatsApp of one of my friends (M.S.) & honestly could not understand it in one go. It forced me to read it once again & I got the meaning... “Nobody’s Perfect!” ... just written in a very imperfect manner!
 

It kind of provoked me to think more & more about the meaning of ‘perfection’ & the tendency behind being perfect or rather being perfectly imperfect. An alphabet plays a major role in conveying the correct meaning.... & an incorrect meaning as well!

Nobody is Perfect! How true! If it wasn’t so, there wouldn’t have been so many creatures on the earth with so many tendencies & mentalities. And maybe, then the world wouldn’t have been a real good place to live. As they say, “There is no fun in life if everything is perfect. There has to be something missing in everything”. The term ‘perfection’ is incomplete without the existence of imperfection. Just like, the light has importance because darkness exists and the air has importance because vacuum exists. No one would know the power of ‘Good’ unless there is presence of ‘Bad’ somewhere. (All film industries across the globe survive on this concept of ‘Good’ vs. ‘Bad’... it’s their bread-n-butter damn it!   :-P)

On a completely different level of thought, I feel that we are being driven by one force to the same destination. Just that we are taking different journeys and along our journey, we sometimes bump into each other, we cross paths... we take different physical forms. But at all times, we are never 100% perfect. I’m not perfect for your journey and you’re not perfect for mine. Or we can say...  I’m perfect for my journey and you are perfect for yours.

“Nobody is Perfect & I’m Nobody” is sort of a funny quote that we see printed on t-shirts just to show an attitude. Jokes apart.... but ‘perfect’ is just a term that actually means ‘pretty close to 100%’. It’s no fun being 100% as there is nothing to gain more, achieve more & then there is no scope for improvement. It’s static... stagnant... saturated! As Leo Tolstoy says, “If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.”

One of my theatre mentors used to say, “Try going near perfection... but don’t try to be perfect. It will stop you from performing better next time.”

So friends... Stay perfectly imperfect... Move on towards better...

Cheers!

- ab

B(aa)ees Saal Baad!

Baaees Saal Baad! (22 years later!) Yes, it was 1992 when I completed my schooling. It’s been 22 years now!

Sometime in the 1st week of January this year, I got a call from one of my schoolmates, saying “we have arranged a small get-together of our batch-mates on 1st February”. Just few days later, another batch-mate created a group on WhatsApp & included me in the members. (Till today I’m unaware of how these groups are created.... and I’m 100% sure that it’s a very simple process. Not my cup of tea though!). Few of the mates, whom I literally have forgotten, were there in the group & everyone started sharing some or other message on this group communication. Jokes, images, birthday wishes, videos, quizzes, puzzles & many more....

I hardly remember having been celebrated anyone’s birthday in school days, especially in secondary school. Today it surprises me when someone changes the group name as "HAPPY BIRTHDAY (so & so)" & everyone drops various wishes, smileys & cake images! Moreover, all of us shamelessly ask for a party or a cake from the one whose birthday it is! And why not? ‘Cake khaane ke liye hum kahin bhi ja sakte hain!’

It wasn’t any formal get-together though, I reached the place & finally after 22 years, some of my school-time buddies were there....!

Everyone was enthusiastic about sharing the memories, cracking jokes, remembering so-called first crush (& second-third-fourth crush as well!), affairs, heart-breaks, crazy illogical nick-names, after-school moments, cricket & volley-ball matches, recollecting names & faces of not-so-known batch-mates.... all different topics and completely tangent arrays of subjects....!! As expected, none of us was talking about studies, teachers or anything related to academics (of course, none of us was there to remember bitter moments!  :-D). One of us mentioned that it was only our batch that had not planned any such get-together after the schooling was over.... but I honestly felt glad about it. Had it been planned earlier, I doubt we would have enjoyed it the same way.

None of us was an extra-ordinary or above-average student in the school. Yet, I’m more than happy to see almost everyone doing really well today. Different family backgrounds, professions, ideas, views, future plans.... different identities altogether!! While in school, none of us knew what we would be doing later. A doctor, an insurance agent, a recovery officer, an HR executive in some IT company, a chartered accountant, a self-employed entrepreneur, art director in advertising.... everyone’s profession was so different from other’s! Yet, everyone was there! Right there!!

What an evening! 1992 to 2014 - a huge time span of 22 years was just minimised to seconds & all of us were enjoying as if it was just another day at school! Two hours full of hugs, jokes-laughs-claps, memories, snacks, sandwiches, pedhas .... Jokes-laughs-claps again & plans for next meeting.... that was it.... and everyone was on his way home! Few couldn’t join us for some or other reasons & they really don’t know what they missed!

Thanks to all of you for such wonderful time! See you next time friends.... expecting few more to join us next time.... Cheers!

- Abhijit