Bulleted List

• If you're a Wonderwall fan - listen to this outstanding version of the song.
  
• Sometimes, I've found it more difficult to say No to people not close to me. Clearly, it shouldn't be that way. But ironically, it has.
• My physical health is intricately linked to my mental health. Just like everyone else's. Only now, I really want to work on my physical health - at both the physical and the mental level.
• Why do I realize the worth of people when they are not around me?
• I wish to be many things in life. But what I wish to be foremost is - An Entrepreneur. If at all I can become more things, i'd like to be a writer, paraglider, capoerista, photographer, musician, film director. But first and foremost - an entrepreneur.
• There were many instances when I couldn't choose between the many things I wanted to be. Poorva asked me, "What do you want to be known as?". Her age (being 73 that she is and her experiences in life) came to my rescue. That's when I realized that I wanted to be an entrepreneur first and everything else, later.
• I start dancing each time I listen to "Jaane Kyun" from Dostana
• Changing the positioning of my blog from a Writing Playground to a Thought Playground is comforting though I clearly don't want it to become a random rant space. This one entry (hopefully the only one) is an exception. When I have the luxury of time I will use this blessed service to hone my writing skill.
• My respect for Mr. Amitabh Bachchan increases multifold with each new entry on his blog. I strongly recommend a read. The man's dedication, commitment to his art, energy, wisdom, intelligence are simply awe-inspiring.
• I'd also like to thank the 3 P's on my blog - Poorva, Peru and Pratik (3 of the loveliest girls i've known) for having the kind heart to stay with me on the blog for close to three years now.
• Also, i'd like to extend my thank yous to Varun Prasad whose comments have been forever encouraging and Mudra Mehta who, inspite of being an extremely talented writer, grammarian, star-blogger and a Tashan-lover, has given my blog some of her valuable time.
• There are a whole lot of other people who have commented under pressure (not the pot one). To them also, I am grateful. Grateful because they chose the right kind of pressure to comment on my blog.
  
• @ Poorva, Peru and Pratik - I will dedicate more post space to you'll in the near future. Please don't stop commenting. You'll won't na? Promise?
• I love you all.
  
• Ok. Now my entry is increasingly taking a "written in a drunken stupor" shape.
• So, Saal Mubarak! :D
  

What are you doing?

Every once in a while a 'what the fuck are you doing with your life?' kind of question pops up from nowhere and especially when I am imagining Monica Bellucci in various stages of undress. My mind, which has no sense of priorities, subtly moves to that dreaded question. Leaving her dress on the floor and my imagined self screaming "Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing by calling it a day at this utopian moment"? - my mind dances over my insecurities.

Today was one of those days. The question though was more retrospective in nature. It asked me, 'What the fuck have you done in your life?'. *Damn it!* After 14 minutes of "Can I get Monica back! umm.. err.. I'll be done real soon!... Please!!!...C'mmon it's MONICA BELLUCCI you celibate fucker!" I gave up. The question took over. After beating around the bush for a while, the truth basked in its naked glory. Naked Truth or Naked Monica Bellucci? Who would you choose?

For me, it was a day when I finally accepted a certain truth.

The truth that there is an obvious disparity between knowing the knowledge and living it. That knowing how to have sex and having sex are two very different things. I realized that in my 22 years, out of the umpteen thousand things I have read, known and thought to have believed - my only growth has been in height and weight, the latter also being negligible. I've read books on Zen Buddhism, parts of the Gita, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, so many Robin Sharma's pop self-helps ... Infact, I've read bits of The Secret too *in a fit of desperation* ...

But little did I realize that for self help to actually work, you have to help your self. And honestly man, knowing one's self is not rocket science. It simply needs the honesty and earnestness to look at yourself for what you truly are. A dash of ruthlessness can help if you are subconsciously biased to yourself. *Eg : Me*

With objectivity must come acknowledgment and then acceptance. And then the willingness to change the unwanted. Damn, see I am writing like the way they do in those books. Digression :- Sincerely, some reputed self-help practitioners and preachers make the entire process so serious and challenging that it becomes a put-off. And that's true. Most books make self-awareness sombre business meant for the world weary. Isn't it?

And when you only know the knowledge but are not living it, you come across as preachy and philosophical too with mere clutter and little clarity. And I realise how this information overload has taken a toll on my mind. My spontaneity is not spontaneous. I write lines like the last one. And most importantly, Monica Bellucci has begun to lose interest in me.

So, ladies and gentlemen my parting wisdom to you is :

It's a hundred times more beneficial to live the little you know & believe in. Jee haan! Sachi! Anyway, you tell me :

What are you doing?








P.S. - The 'Knowing how to and having Sex' line in Para 3 was just an example to elucidate my point. It certainly wasn't the subject of my introspection. Jee haan! Sachi!

My Daily Bath

Have you seen the new Limca ad? Delightful! Isn't it? And its airing could'nt have been timed any better. Unrelenting tropical heat. Sundry afternoons. And amidst this grimy sweat comes a hauntingly refreshing melody... I'm drawn each time it plays.

Singer kaun hai yaar? Kya awaaz hai!

Raj-u Ban Ja Gentleman!

It's a charming morning. The October sun is shamelessly flamboyant and the birds are at their chirpy best. Is it mating season? A little pigeon comes by my pseudo balcony to wish me good morning. He seems well fed. By the way, how does one determine a pigeon's gender?

And guess what! The mugful of hot water and lemon creates magic on the pot. The yellow background on my blog makes me nostalgic about my lil' trip to wonderland. And ironically it's titled Sticky Notes. For once it wasn't :)

Aah, What a good morning!, I say. What joy!, I say.

And then mom comes. Grim-faced. Tells me to rush to our living room. Damn. The man has fucked my morning, again! His hypnotised followers justifying the dastardly acts. The powers that be turning a blind eye to their very conscience. I know a fucked up morning is a trivial inconvenience.

That man has fucked up people's lives.


“When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood it is hard to shake hands with her.” - Oscar Wilde

That Irreverent Streak

I think ambition needs a little irreverence. Not insensitivity, but the irreverence and quiet confidence that comes with conviction. Skepticism is Success' fiercest enemy.

Recollect Gurkukant Desai's tiff with a fellow merchant in the cloth market? His inability to paint a larger canvas compelled him to thwart Guru's vision. But that man. What conviction! What self-belief! ... Isn't that what it really takes? Obviously, a lot of other factors come into play. But without a timeless faith in that lil' voice within which says : Hey Anuj, that's your dharma, go live it!... every other thing fails.

So, next time you see irreverence coming at you, ask where it's coming from? It may just not be a frivolous disregard for your thoughts...

Zindagi

Sometimes, very rarely though, a song comes and penetrates your very soul. Asking why it evokes so much within an otherwise mundane spirit is blasphemous. Zindagi is one such song. Often I have pondered and with much futility on the enigmatic power of music. This song from Rahman's new work of genius (though certainly not his best) is an ode to the pathos of life. This conversational masterpiece sung by Srinivas and penned by Gulzar is one of the my favourite's on the album. Also, Mastam Mastam and Tu Muskura i'd absolutely recommend. For the time being, allow me to gift you this demure classic in the making.


Album Name:Yuvvraaj
Song Name: Zindagi