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.