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Congrats to all of you!!!

This year Time Magazine’s person of the year is you, me or anyone who logged on to his/her PC and writes a post on his/her blog.

The “Great Man” theory of history is usually attributed to the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who wrote that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” He believed that it is the few, the powerful and the famous who shape our collective destiny as a species. That theory took a serious beating this year.

I was reading Steve Pavlina’s latest post, “Life – The Ultimate Game.� It’s a beautiful and interesting post. How can he write such good posts is beyond me.

What I see the “game” around myself is- life is really a game of how many hearts you can break, how many one night stands you can have, how many people and their lives you can sc*** in your lifetime. In short how much mess you can create in your own life and others as well. What I see is a great disregard for emotions of one’s own and others as well. Feelings don’t count. If you talk about sense of right and wrong, you are an old bore.

To fill a void, one must have a girlfriend/boyfriend or better girlfriends/boyfriends. As if they are not humans but toothbrush and toothpaste that are “must haves� accessory. And forget about the funda of grieving if something bad happens in a relationship. We don’t have time to analyze, learn, forgive, forget and move on. We just move ahead to the next available and equally desperate person.

Where does all that game playing leave family members? Oh! I have forgotten, I will select a suitable mate for myself, because I am very modern, American, and speak English with fake American accent but my love has to be arranged into a marriage by my parents. Of course they will take care of the bridal fineries and my household goods. We must welcome these disguised behenjis and bhaisahibs who frequent every happening place but can’t manage their own wedding expenses. Their modernism is limited to clothes and frequenting discs and pubs. That’s the Indian way of being hep. We cry “bapooooo” and “ma” when things get a bit heated.

So Steve Pavlina, I really bow before you. You are surrounded by wonderful responsible people and churn out such good posts which are a treat to read. And I can only wish that when we imitate foreign culture, it shouldn’t be limited to their eating, clothing and mating habits.

Somewhere, I have read,

“Business is a lot like tennis-those who don’t serve well, end up losing.�

I was reminded of this statement while reading Seth Godin’s post. And it’s a sad reality in India that the post sales support concept is still crawling. Once the sales are achieved and product or services are sold to you, you are doomed, if the product is not under warranty period.

Services industries are even worse. Once you have accepted their services and paid the membership fee…

One of my neighbors has taken up the membership package of a well known medical clinic. That’s it. Unfortunately her daughter fell ill frequently. Once for two whole days, she tried getting in touch with them via phone but to no avail. She has their SIX landline numbers, but still she couldn’t contact them. They won’t entertain anyone without appointment. Fair enough. But for appointment, one has to pick up a phone of at least one number out of six. Finally she went to their clinic and there they refuse to talk to her without appointment. Of course she thundered and gave them a piece of her mind.

They might think of them as very smart. But of course they won’t get my membership and I will keep my near and dear ones away from their clinic. And bad word of mouth publicity will keep their prospects away and give an edge to their competitors.

I am tagged again. I hope Tarun won’t mind my late respone.

Rules of this tag:

1. Name the person who tagged you.
2. Eight things about you (My God!!!)
3. Tag 6 people.

Person who tagged me : Tarun

Eight Things About Me: That is really tricky. I don’t know how to talk about myself or perhaps there is nothing much to tell. I will try.

1. I don’t know how to deal with people who for no apparent reason quite nasty
   to me earlier and then suddenly decide to behave well. I want to give them
   an advice that you don’t own this world and its people that you can behave in
   whatever way you want.
2. I want to cultivate aggressiveness. I don’t have a single aggressive bone in
   my body. I ONLY “manufacture� it when pushed not against the wall but inside
   the wall.
3. I want to develop interpersonal skills which is sadly lacking in me.
4. When someone misbehaves with me, I immediately think what wrong I have done to
   invite that kind of behaviour. I want to curb this tendency of mine. I don’t want to
   introspect for “I Me Myself� type of people.
5. I am happiest when I am curled up in bed with a book and a hot steaming cup of tea
   is waiting to be sipped by me.
6. I love being friends with guys. Till now I am only comfortable with them. You can
   talk to them on any topic under the sun. They are not boring like gals most of whom
   are too obsessed with their looks and boyfriends. And after a while you search for
   words to talk to these disguised Behenjis.
7. I feel quite sad when I talk to children and teenagers. They don’t seem to
   experience how it feels to get wet in rain, swimming in a river or climbing a tree,
   plucking fruits from a tree and eating it sitting there on a branch. It feels as if too
   many assignments, projects, assessments, computer games and TV are depriving
   them of their childhood.
8. I wonder why people claiming to have a “happy childhood� spread so much misery,
   negative energy and sadness to their environment.

Uff! Uff! Uff! The difficult part is over.

Now the good partï?Š I have to tag six people. 🙂

1. Prancer
2. Tanmoy
3. Siddharth
4. Sudipta
5. Ritu
6. Hari

I have found it here :”New Generation Vs Old Generation” 🙂

A very self-important college freshman at a recent football game, took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next to him why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his own.

“You grew up in a different, actually almost primitive, world,” the student said loud enough for the whole crowd to hear. “We young people today grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on the moon, our spaceships have visited Mars…We even have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars, computers with light-speed processing ….and uh..”

Taking advantage of a pause for breath in the student’s litany, the “wizened” one said, “You’re right, Son. We didn’t have those things when we were young……..so we invented them……you arrogant idiot!!

Now……what are you doing for the next generation??”

Recently, I have started noticing a trend. People believing in the “the more we have fun, food and f***, the more successful and happy we are. I absolutely have no problem with that. Every one is entitled to his/her own views and lifestyle. Only through live and let live, we can preserve peace in the family, community or in a nation.

But what makes me curious is that the meaner, the more calculative, self centered, selfish and hedonistic a person is, the more he/she talks about spirituality, God, temples, and inner peace. Is there not much in fun, food and f*** or 3 Fs? Or do we inculcate a lot of guilt in such persons that makes them seek “Satsang�, “Pravachan�, or “Lectures on art of living?� Deep down we all know, what we are doing and what is right and what is wrong. For this we don’t need a spiritual interpreter.

Few days ago, I was talking to my mother over phone. It was our usual conversation of a mother and daughter. And suddenly my tongue slipped off about a minor unfortunate incident. That’s it. She was really upset. I cursed my tongue.

But of late I am trying to have a heart to heart talk with her. Trying to explain things. I respect my parents for bringing me up the way they did. Like other parents they want my well being and want to see me happy. Always.

Why I do that? Why I keep them away from my dilemmas, my troubles? Have I become too self assured? Don’t I love them? Don’t I care for them? When I was growing up, they never troubled me with their problems. They just allowed me to grow and evolve and were there when I needed answers to endless questions. I have never heard from my father, “Kya bakvaas saval poochti ho?� They provided emotional support and taught me how to tackle problems. They have spent a greater part of their lives educating us, caring for us, bringing us up, and nurturing us. That’s enough. It’s time for them to sit back and enjoy. It’s their life too, what if they don’t sing defiantly,� It’s my life.� They have to chill out now and have lots of fun without bothering for me. They have earned it. NOW they need peace and quiet. It’s payback time. I think it’s just time for the role reversal. Now it’s my turn to be strong, to provide emotional and moral support when they are low. It’s time for me to take the bull by horn. I have the ability to sort out the mess of my own creation. I won’t run to parents if in a soup. Not always. I have got a mind of my own, which I can put to use if I want to. Now I take my mother’s arm while crossing the road. They have completed their responsibilities. Their little daughter has grown up and she has definitely not grown into a sucker and a parasite.