Been There, Done What?

In this world, there are two kinds of people.
The first one are the achievers.
The second one are the whiners.
The achievers are the kind of people who would do anything to reach the top.
For them being first means everything.
Getting ranked second or below isn't acceptable.
They put all their efforts, overcome hardships, sacrifice few things, etc. in their pursuit of excellence.
They don't back-down and if they are going to lose, they don't do it without putting up a strong fight.
The case is totally different with the whiners.
The whiners are the ones who don't put in any effort to reach the top.
In fact, they've pretty much given up chasing it, without even taking the first step.
Their minds are made up with the fact that they are gonna lose, and that's what happens in the end.
And then they start whining.
The people they hate: The Achievers.
The only reason being, that they are achievers.
They aren't alone.
It takes one to start whining and then before you know it almost all are.
Always citing things like, 'the achiever was shown favoritism', or that 'the achiever comes from a family of means' or that 'the achiever possibly "bribed" the authorities to reach the top'.
They aren't afraid of voicing their opinion, cause they know some idiot will listen to them and believe their so called bullshit.
Sound stupid, right?
The scary part is that, these people exist in real life.
I'm not talking about school kids.
The ones I'm talking about are, people with actual jobs.
It also includes the ones who are unemployed.
If the whiners exist, so would the achievers right?
Yes, they do and despite the arrogance they show, when they're around, it completely changes to something else at work.
These kinds of people are incredible and unfortunately they are rare.
You might have one working in your company or it could possibly be you.
But if you know them, it's better to start learning from them, if you too hope of becoming like them.
In this blog, I'm not gonna talk much about the achievers, cause their work speaks for itself.
I'm calling out all those whiners, who didn't do shit to make their life better and now actively voice their opinions against the achievers.
Being the whiners they are, the things that they whine about doesn't necessarily has to be related to them in anyway.
It's just that, they want to take out the frustrations of their failures at others. 
Let's take the example of our nation's only sport according to them. Cricket.
Whenever India lost a match, despite giving their all, these whiners would be the first one to show up.
They'd pelt stones at the homes of these cricketers.
It didn't matter to them if they hurt any family members residing there.
They just had to do it.
They'd also burn their effigies to show how much they hate them.
Make tall claims as to how better they are at playing that sport than the ones playing it.
To them it was as if losing a game was equal to committing a heinous crime.
And if India won the next game, they would start making statues of the players and start worshiping them.
What a bunch of hypocrites. 
If any of these whiners had to spend a day training like the sportsmen do, I doubt any of them would last the entire day.
They'd simply give up or state that it's not their job.
Meanwhile, the Indian Cricket team would be busy preparing for their next game.
Trying to rectify all the mistakes they made in the last match and perform better in the next.
That's what differentiates an achiever from a whiner.
This holds true in almost every situation.
Take Advertising for example.
In the advertising world, if you or your agency makes ads, that win almost each award out there and is loved by all, everyone would hold you in high regards.
You and your agency would be the talk everywhere.
Clients would beg you to make ads for them.
But.
But... If the next ad that you make fails to deliver, then that's it.
You might as well forget the invitations to the famous parties in town.
Cause no one will forget that ad and you.
The worst part is, everyone will know you by that ad.
It doesn't matter how great of an Ideator you are.
To them, you simply would look like an Idiot.
And there's nothing you can do about it.
Now coming to Politics.
I don't have an opinion about politicians of our country, because I don't follow them at all.
And I don't intend to do so in the future as well.
From what I've observed, the thing about politicians is that, good politicians don't come in groups.
There are certain exceptional individuals who are better.
But as individuals, they are powerless.
Even if they do have a strong hold over others, the voice of the whiners is loud enough to drown out any support they have.
It's a shame.Apart from the whiners, another worse lot are the criticizers.
They have one job and it's something that hardly takes them any effort to do.
Criticize.
I'm not talking about movie critics.
These special bunch of criticizers, only have hate for everything.
From criticizing the late arrival of public transport to population, education, pollution, etc.
Basically every cause that doesn't need their opinion.
They force it down the throats of everyone who gets their attention.If you ask them what have they done to make the situation better.
They probably won't have the answer to it.These are the people that compare how other countries are making themselves better and how ours isn't.
Hell, if they had the opportunity to make that country better, they would go there in a heartbeat.
Doing the same thing for our country would seem shameful to them.
The best thing one can do is to contribute.
Be it from social work or just show up at work.
Cause no matter what kind of work you do, it does have a positive impact on others.
Whether you repair shoes at a small shop or try to fix the economy at your high level job.
The results will show, even if they aren't immediate, even if it won't benefit you.
It will benefit someone, give them a better future to live in.
How else do you think we got our Independence?
Definitely not because of someone who was whining over why we aren't getting Independence.
But because someone was fighting hard, day and night to make it possible. 

A Trip Down Memory Lane

When we are kids, going on a trip with our families is the most exciting thing ever for us.

The joy of discovering a new place.

Trying out the local cuisine.
Staying in a hotel.

It all seems like fun.

I too went on these trips with my family in my childhood.

Most often, accompanied with my cousins and their family.

Other times, it was just the four of us.

My first trip was to Goa (unless my mom and dad took me elsewhere).

At a time when Goa wasn't the most happening place.

I don't even remember going on that trip.

I just know it from the pictures that I have seen.

I have also never been to an overseas trip.

I guess, I'll go when the opportunity comes up.

The places I did go to were mostly hill-stations.

Matheran, Khandala, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar, etc. to name a few.

The southernmost place I've visited was Tirupati.

I don't exactly remember it, but again from the pics, I could see it wasn't my favorite place at all.

The northernmost place I've visited was Vaishnodevi.  

And I remember that trip vividly, going all the way to the top of the mountain the whole day, just to glimse the shrine for a few precious moments and then come down again.
Visiting the Taj Mahal was pretty much the highlight of all the trips I've taken.

I guess the last time I went on a trip with my family was to Rajasthan when I was in college.

After that, what all trips I've been to, were just for visiting relatives or attending marriages.

I guess that's what happens when you grow up.

As a kid, you feel thrilled at the mention of the word vacation and can't wait to go to one.

When you get older though, the trips with your family becomes less frequent.

It gets replaced by trips with your friends.

Which is even more fun, as there are no parents to tell you what not to eat and when to sleep.

But you do have to take the responsibility of your belongings and go easy on the money.

Well... it's all worth the risk.

The thing is, these trips are what fill our childhood with the experience of the outside world.
The bubble that we live in, expands once we visit a place we've never been too.
Filling our minds with curiosity about things like, 'why the statue is facing that way' or 'how did the monkey get in our backyard'.
When you visit the same place as an adult, you already know the answers to these questions and you don't even bother to ask some more.
That changes everything.
But that's also what makes it a memory worth remembering.

Once Upon A Novel

I love reading books.

I've been reading them from the moment I learnt to read and will keep on, until I run out of books to read.

That obviously, will never happen.

When we are kids, picture books are what we all love to read.

I too liked them, until I started reading novels at my sister's place.

Obviously, an eight year old wouldn't understand most of the words that go into making that novel.

But I did... sorta.

Even at the school library, when kids my age would opt for picture books, I would pick a novel, Hardy Boys to be exact.

At one time, the librarian asked me, "Can you finish that novel?".

I nodded to her and said "yes", in my soft childish tone.

I liked hearing stories as well.

I remember pestering my grandmother to recite few whenever I felt bored.

The story I always asked for: The Little Red Riding Hood.

It kinda was my favorite too.

Even at the library I would read this book.

I had become so familiar with the story that I could finish reading the book faster than my other classmates.

This one time, the librarian had said that anyone who finishes their book before the bell, has to recite the story to her.

The book I picked: The Little Red Riding Hood.

And I recited the whole story to the librarian, kinda like how my grandma would.

I didn't feel embarrassed or anything, and went back to my seat, while the rest of the class looked at me, impressed.

That's the thing with being a kid, you're never embarrassed even if you do the most stupidest shit.

I continued reading till I started high school. 

And a lot of things changed.

At high school, my reading habit had literally died.

Until, I came across Harry Potter.

My whole world changed after that.

To me Harry Potter was more than an obsession.  

I read the same book again and again, never getting bored.

For the first time in my life, I felt the need to write my own story and not just read a book.

I also started using my imagination for making up stories.

I did attempt writing some stories but failed to complete it.

So what if I couldn't write a story, the best thing that I found out about myself was that I liked to write.

During the Harry Potter years, I read other novels too.

But in the end I would still come back to Harry Potter, because it was that great.

Once Harry Potter had ended, the spark that it had lit in me had kindled a fire.

Though that fire was small, it was still burning, craving for more books to read, stuff to write about, yada yada yada...

As my journey started in the Advertising world, reading books became a ritual for me.

It started with books on Advertising, then went to complete fiction.

Nowadays, that's what I do, apart from playing guitar and writing the occasional blog.

I feel that books are to writers, what practice is to musicians and professionals in their field of work.

The more you read, the more you're able to write.

And now, I even have the means to fund this habit of mine.

I spend a small part of my equally small income in buying a book.

And unlike most of the occasional readers who prefer reading books written by a popular author, I do the opposite.

I go to the bookstore, browse through authors, find a name I'm unfamiliar with, and that's what I will be reading throughout the week.

I don't have a favorite genre, if it's something that piques my interest, then I'll pick it up.

I also prefer reading an actual book rather than from a Kindle.

While reading an E-book is good for the environment, nothing can compare to the feeling of opening a new book, smelling it and reading it in the comfort of your home. 

Plus you have to keep on recharging your Kindle reader. A thing that you'll never have to do to your book.

If you'd ask me about when I plan on writing my own book. 

I honestly, don't know if I'd ever. 

Like any other writer out there, I too have a dream of writing one.

But I'm in no hurry, I'll wait till I get even better with my writing and then try my hand at it.

Till then, reading a nice novel would do well for me.

Feast Of (Junk) Food

I have something to admit.

I love fast food.

I love it more than the food my mom makes.

It's not like she makes bad food, its just that I prefer eating food that does me more harm than good.

As far as I remember, my first exposure to American fast food began with McDonald's.

Before that, I had no clue what a burger tasted or looked like.

And McDonald's was all the craze when it opened here.

Before McDonald's, if you went to an Indian restaurant thinking they served fast food, you'd have to come back disappointed because their version of fast food was, 'the food that people have when they fasted'.

I didn't care whether they were good or bad, I just cared for the toy that came with their Happy Meal.

And I had an awesome collection, which by now must be rotting in some dump-yard somewhere.

To me, McDonald's was the ideal image of how a burger should look like.

It all changed when I went to an american themed diner and tried their burger.

That's when I found out that McDonald's was nowhere close to how an actual burger should taste like.

I had forgotten that their objective was not to bring delicious burgers, but to sell people their version of an american delicacy.

But thanks to them burgers were all the range at many Indian households.

Even at my home, I tried making a burger once, all I needed was a burger bun, an aloo tikki, some mayo and it was done.

It did not taste the way a burger should taste like.

And after that I swore I would never make one at home again.

The homemade burger was the parents version of "why eat outside? we'll make one at home".

I guess it was some kind of challenge by McD to the parents on "Who can make the most shitty burger ever, you or us?"

The parents took the bait, and McD won.

All was going well for McDonald's until KFC dropped by.

And again people were surprised.

"Till now we all were used to eating tandoori chicken, so what's with this fried chicken thing? and why does it taste really good?".

Soon a whole new bunch of American fast food joints came up and McDonald's became just another name in the fast food industry.

Nowadays the popularity of fast food has risen to the point where all of them attempt to replicate their version of local dishes.

Though in India, thanks to the large population of rabbit food lovers, they just change their whole menu but not without adding one Indian dish to it.

Basically, its just a really spicy version of their dish, and has an Indianised name to it.

Now if you've lived in India for quite a long time, you know that Indian cuisine isn't all about spicy food, there's sour, there's sweet, there's also I-don't-know-what-the-hell-was-that, etc.

But what do they know, eh?

I mean, if I'm going to an American fast food joint, I want to experience what their food tastes like and not 'what our food would taste like if we put it in a bun'.

We have rotis for that and they do a far better job.

Well, no matter what they do or don't one thing's for sure:

I'll never stop eating fast food.

Summer Daze

The best part of everyone's childhood is their summer vacations.
A whole month of freedom, watching the tube, playing with friends, gaming and going out on a trip with the whole family.
It's the only time of the year when you get to really be a kid and be away from all the responsibilities.
In fact, the only thing that I liked about my childhood was my summer vacations.
I used to spend the whole day outside home playing with my friends, then coming back late only play at home again.
And that yearly trip to Delhi with my family, only a few times did my dad tag along, otherwise it was just me, my brother and my mom.
It was fun too, visiting different places, playing in the garden with my brother, meeting relatives whom at times I wouldn't recognize, etc.
My vacations actually ended when I came back home to Mumbai.
Then there was the ritual of buying new text books.
It was the only time that I was actually happy to see and read those books.
I ignored them until the day of my exams.
Just like any normal kid would do. 
When I started college, the summer vacations got a different meaning and purpose.
It wasn't the same old - play games, have fun and do nothing type holidays.
It was the 'now start planning for your future and join a course' vacation.
Even my trips to Delhi became shorter.
In fact, my trips to Delhi changed from summer to winter.
It was a huge mistake.
Let me explain:
If you've lived you're whole life in the blazing heat and the only exposure to cold was just a breeze passing by, then you haven't actually seen what cold is actually like.
And Delhi cold is something that I wasn't even prepared for.
Most of the time I would just lay under a bundle of blankets and try not to shiver.
The only time I went out was when the sun came out, and it did for a short time in the afternoon.
Later, my college also got over.
How fast the time went by, I didn't even notice, and then here I was doing my post graduation. 
Once that was over, I had only a few weeks of free time.
It was my last summer vacation and the feeling hadn't sunk in yet.
And it sucked, knowing that in a few weeks I'll have to start looking for a job and make a living.
I didn't want to, I yearned for my childhood to come back whereas my mom screamed at me to get a job.
So I did.
Now that I am working, and am gonna spend my whole life doing that. I've come to respect and enjoy the two precious days in my life which I didn't give a damn about in the past.
Weekends.
Without them, my life would just have been mundane and without purpose.

Writer's Unblock

I've been away from blogging for quite a while.
Yeah it's the job, but it's not like I'm super busy or something.
It's just that I haven't written a blog for so long that I couldn't take it anymore.
Even though in my job, all I do is write stuff, but this is different.
I'm not paid to write this and that's what makes this fun.
But honestly, stuff I write at work is fun too, but it goes through a lot of edit from my seniors, clients, etc. and that takes the fun away.
For a long time, I've been trying to search for a topic to write about.
I couldn't and I started to fear the thing that used to haunt me in the past has come back to haunt me again.
Writer's block.
I'm no stranger to this. 
During my school days, I used to try writing novels, yeah... try.
I had a story in my mind that I wanted to tell, I did some research on it, then I started writing it.
I got as far as a couple chapters and that's when it kicked in.
I hated myself for it, I knew writing was something that I wanted to do in the future as well.
But if this writer's block would happen every now and then, then I had to figure a solution for it.
So, I started reading, watching movies, listening to music, anything that inspired me I would take a look at it.
It didn't help me much, basically all I did was try to rip-off some famous movie plot or just copy the book word to word.
 Years went by and my writing habit disappeared, I guess I had abandoned all hope of writing anything.
I picked up the guitar at a time when people were busy thinking about what to do in the future.
My mom and most of my family had high hopes of me becoming banker.
I hated that.
No one in my family has any right to tell me what to do in my life, least of all decide my future.
I knew bankers make a shit ton of money and get a lot of perks.
But that's not what I wanted to become.
I wanted to feed my creative side and call it luck or whatever, I got introduced to advertising.
Here's a job where your creative thinking can turn a product into a brand, win you awards and recognition and what's more lets you be you.
The drawback, most people don't understand what you do, you don't paid what you deserve and thanks to the odd working hours, you can kiss your social life goodbye.
Now that I'm in advertising and doing what I do best - write.
I still look forward to the day when my written words would become famous.
Till then, I hope that my writer's block stays unblocked.

Past Tense

I often wonder why people are always so hung up over their past.
Why do people love what it was like before, why do many are proud of what they were before or the glorious past of their country or ancestors?
I've seen a lot of people boast about what they have accomplished in the past or just loved the fact that things in the past were better than now.
I know and understand that in those or if I'd be more specific, in their days things were simpler and not complicated.
It's true.
They lived the best of their lives, I'm not pointing towards a particular time period but I do agree that the past was the time of innovation, of moving towards a future unknown but one that held hopes for many.
So what the hell went wrong?
Did we stop innovating? Did technology and science play no role in improving our lives?
Why is it that people still don't accept that the life they live or the future ahead of them is going to get better?
I know its a lot of questions but we gotta ask ourselves this from time to time.
I've been so used hearing people talk about the past as if they played a vital role in that time, that nowadays whenever I hear someone mention that, I start to cringe.
I admit that in the past certain things were better.
Food was cheap, homes were cheap, roads were more empty, there were less people....
Now everything's expensive, there's population explosion and what not.
But that is not a reason to complain.
Nobody mentions that in the past there were many incurable diseases which today can be cured and even prevented through vaccinations and pills.
Many are hung up over the fact that diseases like HIV/AIDS and Cancer are still incurable.
What they miss out is that slowly and surely even these diseases will become a thing of the past. 
Imagine if the present social media and technology existed back in the 60's and 70's.
Then today, the scenario would have been a lot different.
The elders, our parents and grandparents would have been experts in social media and we would have learnt from them instead of the other way round.
Of course today we would be living in a far advanced time and not just starting to understand the extent of the digital world.
In the past we when we all were young, we lived a carefree life, one free of worries and devoid of any responsibilities.
That time we all looked forward to growing up and discovering the mysteries of adulthood, which turned out to be a disappointment when we actually did grow up.
The funny thing about life is that no matter what time, year or date it is, everyone looks back at the good times they had and not about what lies ahead.
In fact it should be the exact opposite.
We should all look forward to the future, and know that one day for sure we will witness a future where everyone is more excited about the life they are living and not the life they used to live.
To the elders of this generation who can't come to term with the whole digital thing.
I know you've lived at a time where people would read more books than be on their phones, where to communicate with each other they travelled long distances to meet their family or friends.
Technology today, didn't took the joy away, it made our lives better.
Yeah people don't read a lot of books, but they can read it on their tabs or Kindle, they even have the option of listening to audio-books which might be kiddish but is more convenient.
They have the option of using Skype to video call their friends and family from afar, thus cutting down the time and money needed to travel that far.
If technology has done one thing, it has made people come closer and made our lives much easier.
Like everything even technology has its downside but that doesn't mean its bad.
So the next time someone tells you to try a smartphone or get on the social media platforms, don't shy away thinking its not meant for you, embrace it, cause I'm sure you would find that it will benefit you more than you think.
Cheers!