To share or not to share

January was quite a while back and it would be silly on my part if I said I couldn't find anything to write about.

Its funny how someone from this generation begins to instantly wonder whether an incident in their life is worth blogging about or becoming a Facebook status update. In either case, people would see and comment. But the question is : Would you really want that incident to be out there in the open, for public response?

For most other people whose lives are normal (read, unsatisfactory), they find the need to dramatize these incidents to garner a better response from their 'audience' (read, people who have too much time on their hands).

Somethings are best left unsaid. But if they're not talked about, how'd the world know? Is it necessary for the world to know? If not, GREAT ! Lesser information to ponder upon. If so, why is it left unsaid? Perplexing !

So how do you judge which information/incident about your life is worth sharing? Certainly, information about you sneezing three times is not worth an FB status update, according to me. Arguably, many others might find it insightful, who knows?

Why are there so many questions? And no absolute answers? Relativity is quite over-rated ! Even though relativity comes handy in many occasions, sometimes all you want is a common globally-approved answer.

Third party perspective

Why should you be, You? Why can't you be Alisha, Karan, Sanjana, Krithi, Aditya or Ajay? Putting yourself in another person's shoes isn't quite hard, or is it?

You put a lot of thought into a certain subject and a decision is made. Now, distance yourself from your emotions - Imagine that you are some on-looker watching this decision being made. Suddenly, you feel the decision is illogical. But wasn't it you who made this decision? How can your opinion change when you aren't the decision-maker. That's exactly how the society behaves. Relativity in opinion can be quite confusing. Dwelling in the third party perspective can be quite tricky. A neat line must be drawn to differentiate this. Or like the movie "Inception" states - one won't know the difference between a dream and reality.

This perspective is extremely useful in the field of performing arts. How do you portray a character without getting into the skin of it. If you are Lord Krishna, you need to exude grace, charm and a friendly personality - irrespective of how you are in real life. Krishna was social, flirty and very knowledgeable - an antisocial artist would find it hard to be Krishna, unless he forgets himself and pretends that he was always Krishna from the beginning. In extremely rare cases of matching personalities, a 'switch off' of your emotions is required - otherwise your worries would unnecessarily come into the picture. You might have problems with your girlfriend, but here you're romancing Radha and you don't quite have a choice!
Your mind is on full worrying mode - "Oh god ! Electricity bills have to be paid, the milkman will come at 5 30 in the morning ruining my sleep, the boss won't listen to any excuses about the presentation mailing ... " - The Lights go on ... and suddenly you're dancing in the garden of Brindavan, in a time zone that you aren't aware of, with gopis whose existence cannot be scientifically proven ... Wait, where did all those present time worries go? The mind has switched off.

Not being You for a while can really help in distancing yourself from your problems. But running away from them doesn't always help. Actually, being oblivious to situations can get you into even more trouble. So use it wisely!

True to its name

Life's a Stage ! It is about living, expressing, emoting, valuing and experiencing.

Today is my day to express. My day to live !

Silence haunts.

No song in the air. No words heard. No movement. The air is still. Visually you are aware that people are in the room. But nobody speaks. Nobody has anything to say. Nobody is making any specific eye contact, even.

We are so used to noise, voices, music that such a sudden hit of silence is disturbing. Silence can come from a variety of factors. The quiet period after a fight is quite unnerving. The prominent tension in the air can drive any person insane. Awkwardness sets in.

The sound of a pin falling is crystal clear. You wonder how you underestimated your hearing all along. Movies use the silence concept to build up suspense. But otherwise in other scenes, you'll notice a background score. You don't pay much attention to it, but when its absent, you know something's missing.

The silence before the storm - everybody dreads the storm. Most silences are followed by storms, if not soon after, a while later. The later the storm approaches, the worse it gets. But until then, all you can do is wait for it.

Wait. In silence.

What do your parents do?

My parents are in the Iron & Steel business.
My mothers irons.
And my father steals.


Courtesy ~ Dad

White Lie

Lie to me - "White Lie"

I say I'm 10 when I'm 9 and half.
My Uncle tells a joke and I try to laugh
In gym I fake a headache, but I want to quit
I say I love the sweater that my Grandma knit.

But that's a white lie
       White lie
It's the kind you want to tell, a white lie
       White lie
So your mom won't have to yell, a white lie
       White lie

Everybody does it cause it feels alright and it's more polite
But a lies still a lie, even when it's white

I pretend I'm asleep when my dad walk's in
I said I ate my chicken, but I just ate the skin
Your face can say you're lying, when your mouth says you're not
Your pants are on fire, but they're not too hot

When it's a white Lie
       White Lie
It's the kind you want to tell, a white lie
       White Lie
So your dad won't have to yell, a white lie
       White Lie

Everybody does it, cause it feels alright and it's more polite
But a lie's still a lie, even when it's white

While it might be hard, to say what's true,
Would you want a white lie told to you?

Looking into the mirror...

She was fuming ! She HATED dressing up. She hated it more, when she didn't have a choice. She gave more importance to a person's presence than appearance - so, she didnt really see the point in dressing up. Sarees were her worst nightmare. One long piece of cloth draped around with folds at the appropriate places - Origami on the human body ! How on earth could she walk normally when there was the perennial fear of the Saree falling off? She was cursing her stars, why'd she have to wear a saree, why'd she have to dress up, why'd she have to be born INDIAN? Quite obviously, Aarthi was not connected to her roots.

The doorbell rang. They must have arrived. She sighed thinking about the usual routine - Welcoming the new family with a plastic smile, asking them to sit down (while they examine your wealth by your living room unsubtly), bringing them tea and snacks (while they observe your walking skills), catching a quick glance at all the family members especially the prospective groom, doing some meaningless chit-chat, and sending them off while they promise to get back to you. NOT AGAIN, she helplessly complained.

Mrs. Rajalakshmi Sudhakaran, fondly called Raji, was a very interesting personality. Her views vibed with the present generation's. Even during her times, she always questioned traditions and broke the orthodox barriers. She didn't have full family support in all her ventures, but that didn't hinder her progress. Quite naturally, she was unbelievably shocked when her son had asked her to find him a wife.

Raji was now in a sticky situation. Had she observed what her elders did, she'd know the norms of "ponnu-paakardhu". She had just resorted to passing the message through her friends circle. They would find her son a suitable wife, she hoped.

She walked into the Ramanathan residence. When she received this young girl's photo, immediately she saw a spark in the girl's eyes. She somehow reminded her a lot of herself. Also, this girl's photo elicited a "Hmmm ok" response from her son unlike his usual "No".  Mr and Mrs. Ramanathan welcomed Raji and her son warmly. After ten minutes of formal conversation, Aarthi walked in with coffee and some snacks. Raji smiled when she noticed how Aarthi had had some trouble with her saree. She was transported back to her days, when she walked in, in a salwar kameez suit after spending what seemed like a 100 years, trying to tie her saree. Ofcourse, that family concluded that she had a mind of her own and took back their proposal. Three months and 5 days later, Rajalakshmi married the man of her dreams in a small temple at the end of their street. After the proceedings, they went to have lunch at a nearby restaurant, for the first time as man and wife. "2 Masala dosais and 2 coffees"..."Sure sir, do you want some sugar in that?"

"Do you want some sugar in that?", Aarthi asked for the third time. Her prospective mother-in-law seemed to be in a trance. She wasn't like the other mothers she had met. Something was different about her. She felt an aura of positive vibes from this lady. Her son was blessed with handsome looks, alright ! But Aarthi wanted to know more about Mrs. Sudhakaran than her son. For the time being, she learnt some small facts - doesn't like any sugar in her coffee.