The Wannabe

A "wannabe" (slang for "want to be") is a person with an ambition to be someone or something that they are not. The term is mildly pejorative, intended to convey the foolish nature of the desire due to the incompetence of the "wannabe" to accomplish the goal.

There you go. The Wikipedia borrowed perfect introduction to my blog post. I bet my old English teachers would smirk at this.

Those guys who wear their jeans so low you can see their apple red Jockey underwear.

Those guys who flash the Yo/Peace/I think this means the metal sign symbol.

Those guys who show off their interest in music by rattling off all the genres and sub-genres of metal, with no idea what's the difference between death metal and progressive. The wannabe girl says "Oh, what's your favorite song, guy-I'm-so-impressed-with <3 <3?" And he says In The End, that Linkin Park song. The anthem of the wannabe.

Those guys who think saying "Kewl" is so cool.

Those guys who say "Ssup Bro" and think it rolls as smoothly off their tongue as a typical American teen. 

Those guys who think unbuttoning the top 3 buttons of their shirt makes them so much more attractive.

Those girls who think using the F-word five times in a sentence makes them a mama from the hood.

Those girls who buy that tight tight t-shirt without looking at their bulging t-t-tyres.

They don't understand something critical.

It's okay not to be American. And it's perfectly all right to prefer samosa to sushi. Faking your music or literature interests can only get you so far. 

Who are you trying to ape, anyway? Those bunch of morons in 90210? 

Seriously. Wake up, smell the coffee beans and get real.

You have one life. Don't live it like someone you are not.

P.S. I sound like a motivational speaker. :O

A Glitch In Reality I Want To Fix

I've been feeling slightly out of it lately.
Restless with the routine of everyday life.Every today is identical to a yesterday which is identical to a tomorrow. My big adventure of the day was trying out the new Chicken Salad sandwich at Cafe Coffee Day. (Yeah, I'm sticking to my Tropical Iceberg, please.)

Let's take for example, the subject of Psychology I've been learning in college. The lecturers are great, better than many we've had this year, their presentations are loaded with great examples, yet I feel slightly disconnected. While they promulgate the fact of every individual being unique, they delve in so many stereotypes and generalizations of behaviour.

No, I do not believe that girls imitate their mother's behaviour and guys imitate their father in the course of their own relationships. Simply because we are exposed to so many people and role models in life, who impact and influence our interactions.
No, I do not believe that guys wear only blue and girls wear only pink. And how come a guy wearing pink is a big deal and not a girl wearing blue?
No, I do not believe that a guy would choose not to marry a woman who earned more than him in this day and age. If he does, he is shallow and that cannot and should not be attributed to 'typical male behaviour' or some such nonsense. That only validates bullshit.
No, I do not believe that when money comes into the hands of women their first instinct is to splurge on themselves. For heaven's sake, 99% of clients of microfinance institutions the world over are women. ONLY because they are more responsible than men when it comes to managing finances. Research proves it. Take a look if you don't believe me.

You get why I'm not enjoying the subject, right?

But it's not just that that is eating away at me.
I look around and I see slackers. And I see people who are satisfied with what they see and the situation they are in. And I see people who don't know and even worse, don't care to know what's happening around them.
Maybe they've attained that tranquil state of nirvana. If they have, I'm happy for them.

I wonder sometimes, do I just have a profound misunderstanding of what reality is supposed to be.
Or maybe this is it, and I don't know how to fix it.
Shit, all of a sudden, I feel like tearing apart all those Ayn Rand books I have.

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. 

Drudgery and Dimsum

There are multiple reasons for my AWOL-ness, but none substantial enough to find their way into honest writing (I can't really start with the rant of 'I needed space, okay! You just don't understand me' here, so forget it. The point is I am back. :P)

* The Routine of 'College at 8 a.m. - Interning for 4 hours - Home just in time to watch Pamela Anderson on Big Boss - Sleep'

Why even elaborate on this? As if college isn't mind numbing enough with its lazy group discussions and the typical drawling lecturer accents, throw in drawing up content plans for banks, college canteen panipuri and rigged reality shows to the mix that is an average day in my life. It's interesting and exhausting in equal parts. All I wish for these days is for Sunday to come, when I can enjoy a nice mug of coffee and let my caffeine-immune body enjoy some literature and sleep. 

*You Are So Beautiful My Angle, But Your Brain Like Potato.

(This is what Chinese taxi-drivers have printed on their t-shirts, because in their world of limited English understanding, this makes perfect sense.:D )

So, the trip to Hong Kong and Macao/Macau (How the hell is it spelled?) was amaaaaaazing! When else would I have gone on a gondola ride, seen laser lights dancing on buildings at the harbour front, watched Cirque du Soleil perform live and most importantly, visit Disneeeeeeeyland! (Enough of the unwarranted stretching of words and exclamation marks, but that's the only way I can positively display my excitement.) Hong Kong is one of those urban beautiful places where you imagine your dream office might be located. With exacting standards of cleanliness and civic sense, it is a city Mumbai should take serious lessons from. HOWEVER, and it is a big however, that sickly stench of seafood, including octopus and hairy crabs, pervades the city. And oh my god, the street shopping is insane, with Jimmy Choo fakes being sold for 3000 bucks! (We didn't buy any, what with our morals and all, but irrespective, it is a booming business.) There is SO much that I have observed there in terms of method of communication and the general culture of the place, but that's a whole other ball game/blog post.

P.S. I watched Guzaarish today. That Sanjay Leela Bhansali film every critic in town is calling a cinematic masterpiece that will sweep away all the awards this year. Call me uncultured or intellectually depraved or creatively crippled or whatever the hell you want to, but I disliked it. A lot. Primarily because it all seemed so staged and artificial, from the 17th century mansion right down to Aishwarya Rai's shade of lipstick. It screamed of SLB's pretentiousness and was so self-indulgent in its flow, that it got onto my nerves. Also, I have read so many books that have dealt with euthanasia in such a sophisticated and sensitive manner.Movies like Million Dollar Baby, for example, too put this film to shame. Have you watched it yet? What did you think?

Beautiful Blueberries

Beautiful Blueberries.
These were the last words Christopher McCandless ever wrote in his journal.

If anyone has truly inspired me, it is that young man of 22 who left all his material possessions behind and created a new identity for himself travelling the country and residing in the Alaskan wilderness for 112 days.
Below, is an (actual) haunting snapshot of the journal he maintained, that prompted me to write something here.

 I would have loved to write a book/movie review on "Into The Wild", but I won't. For the simple reason, that it would dilute all that powerful feeling of courage and idealism, into a few words. I don't generally read biographies or autobiographies, because the few times I have, I found them pretentious. (For heaven's sake, Miley Cyrus has her autobiography now!) But I love this book, I love Alexander Supertramp and I love the person who had the good sense to gift it to me. :)

"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Chris McCandless

But hey, it's my favourite time of the year! Diwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaali!!!! :)

Diyas light up homes, streets and lives. "We wear cool suits, we wear shiny shoes," with much aplomb this time of the year. I can hardly hear the boom and fizzle of fire-crackers this year, so I assume Mumbai is going green. Happy Diwali, all of you. :) Have a blast!

Obama is coming to town tomorrow, and I leave for Hong Kong and Macau with family for a much-awaited holiday.

It always seems to bring that U2 song, "City of Blinding Lights" to mind. I'm finally getting excited. :)

It has been such a beautiful year. I have loved every second of it. It seems I have transformed into a whole new person. From the stammering girl on stage to the shiny bright (somewhat) confident person I am now. I have become more sensitive to people and have become open-minded and accepting to a lot of things around me. While Obama failed to bring much change to his nation in the past year, I have witnessed a sea change in my interaction with people and my thought process.
I have shifted loyalties from coffee to green tea with great ease, for example. :)
It truly has been an amazing year, and I wish for many more to be exactly like this. Not just for me, but for all of you too. :)

P.S. Get your hands on 1984, will you?