Old habits Die Hard

#1. I have the habit of starting my posts with "Have you ever..". My thoughts go about that way, hence. 
The first post I ever wrote was titled "Out of the writer's block" and I still have the draft. 

Most of my posts have some sort of significance, most often referring to an incident in my life or in the lives of the people I interact with. 

Significance of this one: Why didn't I watch the Die Hard series before? Why ain't I 30 years older, just for Bruce Willis. *This is not the subject of my post*

#2. I deviate from the topic at hand

So. Coming back to this post. Sometimes, I have great respect for life. Honestly, I think the subject of 'Life' or philosophy for that matter is way too intense for a shallow minded soul such as myself. Although that is true, I can't help the fact that I DO understand the importance of this life.

Have you ever wondered why on a same day, a man who is 20 dies at the same time a man who is 80 R(s).I.P ?  I think the reason is 'cause the 20 year old person has understood the value of life. Homo-sapiens are whiny creatures, and Yes, I mean all of us. Yess, you too, the one in the clown costume looking all lost.
We complain about simple things that go wrong in our daily routine - the coffee is not good, the breakfast is burnt, the newspaper hasn't been delivered on time, I've missed the bus, I'm hungover and I can't work - "Omg! Everything is falling apart!". #FirstWorldProblems

YES. You see what's wrong with us?

Ok. I apologise. I have another bad habit. #3. I tend to generalise things.
There are a lotttt of homo-sapiens who DO have REAL problems and I mean the ones that can't be fixed by a hug or a fun day out. My post is about me, and my fellow whiny creatures who make a butt-load with just a dime.

#4. I have no idea where I'm going with this.

Ok. Wait.......
Ok. I got it.
So, do you want to live long? Then please don't be content. For the love of god, complain about everything, 'cause you're going to be here a long long loonnng time.

"Your personal quest is the journey your soul takes on the path to awareness"

I know quite a few people who have lost their loved ones at an early age. From accurate statistics is that I have arrived at this conclusion. An epiphany if you must call it. People who are content, people who think they've seen it all, and people who think they're truly happy and their quest is over, and their dreams have come true - those people end up leaving this world earlier than the ones who are unhappy, and are always on the lookout for something better, with a greedy mind and a burning desire in their eyes.

*Keep in mind that I am only talking about death by natural causes, not suicide or euthanasia*

Judging by my statistics, I guess I'd probably be around for a while. A long while. Contradictory to what I want in life i.e, to leave this world early, I might be stuck here for eternity if I keep questioning my existence on this earth.

So here's one thing I am going to do. I am going to think of one thing each day that makes me happy, or that makes me content, even partially will do. That way I'd be closer to where I want to be.

" We have to learn to embrace the goodness of life. The sweet essence, the nectar, the incorrigibly tasty L.I.F.E. Live life to the fullest. Live each day like its your last. "

Those are the things I have never learnt to do in life. And one day I need to be able to say "I've lived today to the fullest" and THAT would be heaven, right here on earth.

#5 I get all preach-y

I recommend the same medication for all of you whiny, unhappy souls.

Don't kick the bucket just yet. Not yet.

If you must, at least dance while you do it.

Funfact :

The Unanswered post

UNANSWERED POST? WHAAAAAA? Take the hints.


Phew! After a stressful month, my exams are over. "Holidays" have begun. What do holidays even mean these days? It was a term coined to give people an excuse to do nothing. Yes, we all need an excuse to do NOTHING, don't we? Anyway, that is that. (Damn, I wish it was 'this for that' but hey, quid pro quo can wait- in another post maybe). Most of us students are off to work- an Internship as we like to call it. Internships are highly over-rated (I 'intern' too. #JustSaying). Okay. I am going to stop. I hate it when I jump from one topic to another, EVERY line. (Hint)


Ok. So. What are we living for? I've heard people say "Oh I want to change the world", "Make a difference", "Make a mark" blah blah blah. This is when someone tells you to your face (through the computer : don't smirk and think "you are not telling it to my face" :-/ ) that not everyone is going to change the world or make a difference. Few people will. And others will just move on to hate themselves for not being able to live up to the ridiculously cliched goal they set for themselves. The world is a funny place. Why the hell do you want to change that? Isn't humor entertaining enough? What does changing the world mean anyway?
[ "Make a difference in at least one person's life" is on my bucket list too, but if I do fail, I will not hate myself. Its listed, but with a clause you see]

*STOP. NOW. You HAVE to stop doing that!! * (Hint)

What is our ultimate goal? What do we aim to achieve in this world? I don't quite get it. I believe "Everything happens for a reason". The little things in life like changing your curtains (to avoid accumulation of dirt), to buy a fancy car (chicks dig it? :/) or a meal at a nice hotel (to satiate your taste buds) are all easy to understand. It's what gets us through our life-the journey from birth to d... I just didn't want to say the 'D word', it's known to bring ill luck.  

The journey is understandable. But the destination? (Do not pull a "the journey is the destination" crap on me)
We earn to live a wealthy life. Not just for ourselves, but our progeny as well. I love money. It is a wonderful paper thing that fills my closet with clothes. The magic word implemented as a thin, light product to make any thing possible. I'd marry money, I just can't seem to have enough of it.

*Oh god. Why does this keep happening to me? * (Double Hint)

Why don't people sit around and talk anymore? When I say people, I'm included (#JustSaying) . Why don't we watch movies at home with friends and family? Why don't we just talk for a few minutes when we see each other instead of saying "I'll call you, we'll talk" ?
Common answer: "Technology has done this to us". Technology has not done anything to us. If it has done anything at all, it is changing the world, unlike few of us who never will.

*Back to this? Well, here we go again.* (Hint)

GOT IT? NO?

GAME OVER. Read "Connect the post with the title" for dummies and get back to the beginning.

An expected post

It is only mandatory that every student blogger posts about exams. I am only abiding to what is expected of me. I am currently in the Junior year of my undergraduate education. I must say that it has been a rough 3 years. The hardest part of college life - need I mention? - EXAM time.

It is bad enough that our exams stretch over a month, unlike most colleges/universities abroad. Firstly, the university board I study under, aims to kill us. But not instantly. They like to do it in a slow disgusting manner by sucking every drop of blood in our systems and cracking every bone in our bodies. To top it all off, we have more 'study' holidays than we do summer holidays. I have currently had over 20 days of study holidays. Now, my exams have been POSTPONED by another week, due to reasons they can't mention. Seriously? What the hell goes into administrating these exams. First of all, they need to do is get the exam papers ready, and trust me that shouldn't take more than an hour. Our question paper is nothing but careful selection from all the previous years' questions, followed by modification of the words. For example, changing 'Describe' to 'Explain' and so on. Next job of theirs is to find centres for all students to write their exams in, which almost always ends up being their own college. So what administrative reasons could they possibly have? Noobs of the first order.

We detest exams. We detest more, the holidays allocated for 'studying' 'cause only a handful of students actually study in the given period of time. For the rest of us, it is time given generously, to laze around and do nothing all day.

What I want to do:
Burn the administrative office of the University. Burn it till the last man inside is nothing but few grams of dust. (Wait, does using the word 'ash' make it more respectful? )

I am indeed a cruel person. For having such thoughts, I am surely going to hell.

At a point in the timeline of our lives when people are obsessed with memes (created to ridicule every thing on planet Earth, moving / non-moving, living / non-living), here is one created by two of my friends :



Courtesy: TJ & PJ

(Notice I am not disclosing the name of my university. It is on purpose. Do not think I am not thorough at what I write about. Or think that. Really makes no difference. I don't know why I said Do not think. Think away. Mind is the master of your body and soul.)

To do without

Ever found yourself wondering if you can do without your best friend(s) or your boyfriend(s)/girlfriend(s)? Well, you can. 

The idea that a person cannot live without another person is just ridiculously stupid. People leave. That’s life. All you have to do is understand life well enough and prepare yourself for the worst. The feeling you get? About something lasting forever? That feeling is a lie. What you should be thinking/feeling is: It COULD last forever and that you sure as hell wish it does, but life can be a real bitch sometimes. Weigh the possibilities, think hard before you go ahead and start depending on other people. Not because you won’t move on even if you depend on that person(and that person ends up dying/leaving you), it’s just that it will be a lot easier to move on if you didn’t depend on that person in the first place. 

I am not saying don’t get attached to someone. Being attached to people is good. Just know where to draw the line. Sharing your feelings with people close to you might give you a peace of mind and strength to face problems (the fact that you are not alone). That’s great. All you have to do is keep in mind that you might someday be alone, and you have to be stronger to face your own problems. Someday. Just some day. But don’t fear it. Don’t be so afraid of the day that you might be alone, ‘cause if you are lucky, that day might never come. All you have to do is be prepared if the day does come, ‘cause then all you have to do is chuckle and whisper “I told you so” to yourself when compared to killing yourself or going into depression. People say being cautious ruins the essence of life. All I’m saying is if that essence is meant to be bitter and extremely unsatisfactory, I don’t want it. I’d rather be cautious than die wishing I was stronger. 

It will be a really stupid world if there were just a few people who were right to be your best friends/partners. In a world that gives us so many options from choosing a shirt/dress to choosing our life partners through a stupid TV show, the window of opportunities is only growing in size. It is true. “There ARE plenty of fish in the sea”. All you have to do is open your eyes to that possibility of your friends/loved ones being replaced by others.

Depending on someone as though your life depends on it is equivalent to digging your own grave

If there’s something I fear, it’s being unable to push back. Being unable to fight the bitch in life. Failing to surpass the darkness that fills the path of travel. 

“Stepping up. It's a simple concept. It basically means to rise above yourself; to do a little more, to show you something special. Life's funny sometimes; can push pretty hard like when you fall in love with someone but they forget to love you back, like when your best friend and your boyfriend leave you alone, like when you pull the trigger or light the flame and you can't take it back. Like I said, in sports they call this 'stepping up'. In life, I call it 'pushing back. But if you look close enough, you can find hope in the words of children, in the bars of the song and in the eyes of someone you love. And if you're lucky, if you're the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love decides to love you back.”

I don't know why I end my posts on such serious notes. Although I'm afraid if I ended a post, say this one with "We have bigger things to worry about in life than people leaving, like : "

Or

"Imagine what poor E.coli generating organic cucumbers are going through"

For those of you who know me, I'm sure you'll agree I look pathetic when I try to be funny. And for those of you who don't, well, you'll just have to take my word on this one. 

Anyway, Life is bound to get tough. All we got to do is take one step at a time, just be slow and cautious, not overdoing either one of them.

The Green Monster

What IT is
It eats you up. Slowly. Little by little. Starts off as a mild itch in the stomach and goes onto twist your intestines (more than they already are, or are they? I didn't pay much attention in anatomy class) and pull your guts out, literally in a few cases.

*That's where you laugh, I'm told.*

Get to know IT a little bit more
Jealousy is closely associated with the term possessiveness, but they're not the same. More about that on another post. *StartOfAlert* To say the least, please try not to use the term only with your lover (male or female, god I really have to explain myself ). It is highly misleading. *EndOfAlert* Often, when you hear someone say "God, I'm jealous of her. I can't believe they spend so much time together", you think that 'her' is causing some trouble in 'someone''s love life. No. He/she might be jealous of 'her' for the simple reason that the 'her' is good looking (better looking if the 'someone' we're talking about is a girl or "Oh god why don't I have a girlfriend like 'her'. Why does she have to be stuck with that loser" if it is a guy we're talking about). Or that 'her' might be getting closer to someone that 'someone' is close to, not necessarily a lover.
Confusing?

Hear the voices and pull them out
Wise man once said "Jealousy is all the fun you think they had". That's exactly what it is. It is most often an illusion one creates to make himself/herself feel worse, to drown in the pool of self-pity.

Jealousy is your mind screaming out loud "You ain't good enough. You're never going to be as good as him/her".
 You've heard the voices? Good. Now pull them out of your tiny head. Throw them out. 

Get yourself some good crack
The best way to feel good about yourself and worry less about the people you're jealous of is by having a hearty laugh.
Laugh at yourself. Laugh at the other person. Think about what you hate in that person (The thing you wish you had) and L.O.L. Crack some jokes about it. Make it seem as bad as you can.
NOTE: Do not try this in public. Do it alone. Or with a few close friends, if it'll help you more. I repeat, DO NOT try this in public. Any pain caused to you/anyone concerned, both physically and emotionally/mentally
- Not my problem.Thankyou.

Follow this flowchart. New to 'Flowchart'? learn more

Initialise i=0

 "Jealousy is a tribute mediocrity pays to genius". Turn it around. Let that statement not eat you up.
After all, IT is what IT is. Moreover, what you make of IT.  Make IT small. Don't suppress IT. Strengthen IT, feed IT till you think IT is strong enough to face you. Then crush IT. Once and for all.

Goodluck Monster! You have an ugly way to go!

The moments we fail to capture

The beach.
"Calmness. A mixture of sadness and happiness"
                                                     -SK

"Calm. Happy. Family. Balloons.Lonely. Old people walking. Children rides. Lovers. Sea. Sand. Blue sky"
                                                                                    - M
"Peace. Humbled by greatness of nature."
                                              - NB

"Sand. Wind. Nice little stalls. Morning/evening walks (with dogs), kids playing, hangout spot for friends, amateur photographers, families on a picnic, musicians, street performers, people from all walks of life"
                                                                                - TJ

"I love the beach,the smell of the sea. Playing in the water. It makes me happy.Icecream.Sundal.Bajjis.Merry-go-round.Big waves." 
                                                          - SA

"Lonely. Still. Darkness. Dirt. Sticky sand. Amazing bajji. Creepy-crawly creatures. Struggling fishermen. Boats/ships at a distance carrying people who can't wait to get back to their family, and home. Pretentious happy people. A place to go when you're depressed, to feel even worse."
                                                                                                 - Me

My best friend is the most amazing photographer I've known. You will be reading about her in a few years, even paying her to capture few moments of happiness in your lives. (It will come true, you'll see)
This is a picture she took. (M photography. *Copyrights*)

When I see pictures like this, for the few seconds I look at it, I am forced to believe I am wrong about the way my thoughts go about. I am wrong about the beach. I am wrong about the darkness I surround the beach with. All I see is light, a man who loves what he does, effortlessly, single handed.




Its not just the beach. Think about 5 places/things you don't like much. Make a list of them if you can. Think about any person you know who happens to like those things. Why do you think they do? What is the image of it they have in their heads?
If they could capture the image, you could see for yourself. And learn to like it, or un-hate it to begin with.


I wish I had the patience or the passion to capture those significant moments, however tiny they might be, not with a camera, even virtually will do. If I could, I would feel happiness a whole lot more.  If I could picture that one still, calm, happy moment in the place I hate or about the things I don't like doing, for those miniscule seconds, I would experience a feeling of goodness. And the world won't seem like such a bad place after all.

Feel the Tree Hill

I have started a new post over 10 times (no exaggeration).  Finally feels like this is it. I hope so at least.
I've decided to write about the show I've loved for 5 years that has come to an end. Its time has indeed come, but its still hard to let go of something that has influenced you on a weekly basis, for so many years.
*Laugh out Loud*

 One Tree Hill

'Somebody told me that this is the place where everything's better and everything's safe.' 
One tree hill taught me how to never lose hope if you really truly want something, how to forgive and forget, how to overlook what other people say, how to be strong when your world is filled with darkness, and most of all, to believe in the magic of 'life'. 

1. The Connection
"My name is Lucas Scott. I'm a senior at Tree Hill High School. I play basketball -- at least I used to. I have a girlfriend -- at least I used to. And I have a best friend. Tree Hill is just a place somewhere in the world. Maybe it's a lot like your world, maybe it's nothing like it. But if you look closer, you might see someone like you. Someone trying to find their way. Someone trying to find their place. Someone trying to find their self. Sometimes it seems like you are the only one in the world who's struggling, who's frustrated, or unsatisfied, or barely getting by. But that feeling's a lie. And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes. Someone to help us hear the music in the world, to remind us that it won't always be this way. That someone is out there. And that someone will find you."
I didn't know those people, I never will. But I feel like I know those characters. Its funny really. Hilarious in fact.  If you have watched the show even for a few minutes, I am sure you would have found a character you connect with, or a single quality in any character. The emo ways of Peyton, the shopaholic Brooke, the calculative and cautious Haley. Or the kindness in Lucas, the fickle mindedness in Nathan, the humbleness in Keith, the arrogance in Dan.


2. The Music and The brilliant quotes in every episode
"You know I've got this theory, there are two kinds of people in the world. There are lyric people and music people. You know, the lyrics people tend to be analytical. You know, all about the meaning of the song. They're the ones you see with the CD insert out like 5 minutes after buying it, pouring over the lyrics, interpreting the hell out of everything. Um, then there’s the music people, like Brooke. Who could care less for the lyrics as long as its just got like a good beat and you could dance to it. I don’t know, sometimes it might be easier to be a music girl and not a lyric girl. But since I’m not, let me just say this. Sometimes things find you when you need them to find you, I believe that. And for me its usually song lyrics. "
What I loved most about One tree hill was the amazing bands they brought to the show, and how it went so well with the story. Gavin DeGraw, Fall out boy, The Joshua tree, Wakey!Wakey!, Tyler Hilton, Everly, Laura Izibor and a lot lot more. Not just that, its the songs that meant something that go on to create a permanent picture in the minds of people who love it.  Personally, the song that blended so perfectly was 'Hearbeats' by Jose Gonzalez. It was played in season 4, episode 9. It was the song Peyton sent to Lucas while he was on the bus, on his way to the championship game. It was replayed when they won the state championship. 'Its you, Peyton. The one I want standing next to me when all my dreams come true, its you.'- I can play the scene in my head and those dialogues, any time I want to. The chills it gave me the first time I saw it is indescribable.

3. Nathan Scott
"Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said The Last Time I Saw You"

The sole reason I continued watching this show after the nanny kidnapping Jamie, the dog eating the heart, Xavier attacking Brooke, that whole drama of Brooke adopting that girl. Those were one of the very few moments of OTH that made me think "Oh my god. What are they doing to this show". Well, that didn't stop me from watching this show every week, as always- NATHAN SCOTT. I would do anything to have a guy like Nathan. The perfect mix of a jerk and a gentleman. I doubt I can ever erase the image of him shooting the final basket (Ravens Vs. Oak Lake) without looking, while 'Unsatisfied' by Nine Black Alps is playing in the background and not to forget, the flawless smile he has got. And the time when he says "Don't say I never gave you anything" to Haley in Season 1 as well as in the last episode of Season 9.
"Always and Forever" 

The show that survived many obstacles, came to an end after 9 long seasons. A wonderful cast and crew. Here's to a show that made a difference, at least to me.