The Other Side of Life

He shouted loudly, "Ok. Jump!" "Next pose. Back to back." "Next pose. Hands up." "3 pictures done." And he handed back the phone to the one being photographed. I watched amused at the whole sequence of play, while in queue for my own photograph.  This was in the Pura Lempuyang Temple in Bali. It was beautiful, and why not, after all, it was 3rd on the list of the "Top 10 most Instagrammable locations" in Bali as per Buzzfeed. Just one catch though. The place looked nothing like what it looked like on Instagram.  We scratched our heads and stood there, wondering where the water had gone. The Instagram pics clearly showed a temple gateway and its stark, unambiguous reflection in water. Except, there was no water!  And yet, people were queuing up to take a picture. If there's anything I have learnt staying in Singapore now, it is that, if there is a queue, you join at the end -  it does not matter if it's for a...

I laughed when I saw the horror movie Scream 2. And it seems, I now have a good reason why. Back when television content was not available at a click of a button, at your whims and fancies, when there was no Google to answer all your questions, the biggest change in our lives was the introduction of cable television. And t he cable TV guide, of course. Every month, when the cable guy came for the cheque, he would drop a cable guide, with reams of pages full of lists of television programs, sorted by time, in a really small print. It required skill to get through that. And I thought I had it. One fine afternoon in March, right after school exams got over and we got the only vacation in the year, when there was no homework, tests or things to do, I decided to watch a movie. I poured over the TV Guide for an hour, trying to decide what to watch.  I pushed my pudgy finger along rows of data, trying to find just the right thing to watch. After much mental debate, I lan...

Don't read this post. Please. It's not meant for you. Why are you still reading? Because you don't like being told what to do, do you? You, independence-loving, autonomy-addicted, you. Some call it Reverse Psychology. Some call it just the good old plain logic. Many years ago, the King of Prussia, Fredrick the Great, also known as Fritz, heard about a new root called Potato. Enamoured by it's nutritional value, he decided that his subjects need to start including potato in their staple diet. Grand announcements were planned. Drummers would walk across town, singing paeans of the benefits of eating this potato. Cooks would publicly demonstrate recipes with potatoes. I would go out on a limb and say, French Fries was not one of those recipes, because what happened next would just not justify it.  The public rejected potatoes. That's right. Rejected. Hard as it may sound, the people didn't want to be told what to do. So, they d...

There was a man called Bob. He had a brother who was a bit of a moron.  Once, Bob was leaving for a long-awaited vacation for two weeks and asked his moron brother to take care of his cat, while he was gone. A week into the vacation, Bob calls his brother to check in. After the preliminary talk, he asks how the cat is doing. His brother replies, "Oh yeah, about that. The cat died yesterday." Bob was devastated. And also furious. He said to his brother, "How insensitive are you? Couldn't you have broken the news more gently, so I could be prepared?" The moron brother is confused and asks for an example how the news should be broken. So Bob explains, "On the first call, you should have said, your cat climbed up the roof, it's unable to come down. On the second call, you could say, the firemen are here, they are trying their best. On the third call, you say, we are all trying hard, but she's not coming and not eating either. On the ...

I am old enough to clearly remember the days when TV was not the all consuming entertainment entity that it is today. There were exactly two channels on TV - very creatively named DD1 and DD2. If you were not watching News, Krishi Darshan or Surabhi on DD1, it meant you had succumbed to the lure of entertainment on DD2.  By entertainment, I refer to the 2 weekly comedy shows by Sri Adhikari Brothers. Conversations in school on Wednesdays never failed to mention Sriman Srimati. (It just occurred to me, that as of today, the actors who played Sriman and Srimati are no more. Just made me feel a little older).  There was also Rangoli, the weekly show that exposed us to the big bad world of Bollywood songs. If "indecent" songs like Choli Ke Peeche were played, we were promptly sent out of the room to bring water or to set the table. Few smart people managed to record the good songs for viewing later. My grandparents were quite progressive in that sense. They would record ...

Last week, I became a part of a revolt. Unknowingly, unwittingly, I became a part of a mob. It seemed like a turning point in my life of sorts. It so happened that I was driving along the famed Silk Board Junction in Bangalore during peak hour traffic.  For the unacquainted, in Bangalore, Silk Board is the equivalent of a black hole. It is forever in a jam, be it morning, evening, night, Saturday afternoon when the whole world naps, Sunday night when people retire early to bed - It doesn't matter to Silk Board traffic, it is in a perpetual jam mode. In fact, we have a famous joke here: Interviewer during job interview: Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? Job Seeker: Hopefully, i would have crossed Silk Board traffic. Interviewer: Wow, you dream big. You are hired. You get the picture? That's how it is here. Anyway, so I was driving along Silk Board and one of the crossings there, was being manually managed by a Traffic Policeman. A...

In my humble opinion, Whatsapp has single handedly ruined our emotional intelligence. Its not the chat that causes problems. Its the unavoidable inclusion of smileys in the chats that has changed how we communicate. Forever. Let me explain. Take this chat, for example: Interpretation:  I am happy that I quit this fu#$ing job.  It feels awesome. I will party tonight. Now this: Interpretation: Holy Shit. Why did I do this? I don't have another job in hand.  Why would I do this? Do you know of any openings? Oh God. How will I tell my parents? OR this: Interpretation: Couldn't take it any more. I hope this boss rots in hell.  I hope someone tells him GoT spoilers. I hope he gets a horrible reportee. I hope they didn't mind the dramatic smashing of the laptop I did today. I hope they clear my dues and give me a relieving letter. Oh God. Shit. How about thi...

Do you have consultants in your life? If you don't, you are missing out on something. Almost akin to being the only one on your Facebook timeline not watching Game of Thrones. #ReferringToAFriend #NotMe Being with consultants brings structure to your lives. Suddenly, everything is crystal clear.  Q: Should I sleep on the sofa and watch random movies on Romedy Now, or should I do something constructive, like say, go jogging or learn swimming? The answer is in the wind, my friends. What should I blog about today? Random stuff, gyaan post, a well thought out post, a short story? Everyday choices suddenly become simpler. Ask me a question.Go ahead. Ask me anything. Q: How is married life? You get the drift. Q: What are your future plans? Q: What do you make of people in office? You get it, right? Just give a structure to anything and your life becomes peaceful.  Just to check if you have been following me seriously, please tell me what y...

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague today. While licking away wisps of Avakkai (Andhra Pickle) from someone's plate, he commented that our generation is not working hard enough to preserve the talents of our past generations. The case in point being rare, non-re-creatable recipes, with the potential to cause foodgasms. And also some arts. I agree. Only that, I don't completely agree. I mean, yes, we have failed our ancestors miserably in keeping their traditions alive. I cannot imagine ever making a Sambhar like my Mom or home-made crackers, like my great-grandmom. However, I don't agree that we are talentless. We did not preserve their traditions because we were busy developing new talents. Let's give ourselves some credit. *round of applause* I know for a fact, that 100 years from today, my descendants will be discussing my talents too. I can imagine it. *Start of Visualization* A bunch of ugly teenagers (ugly because I am a 100% c...