Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Ruckus

I just cannot understand why the heck was that song ever composed! Every time I hear the song or watch it on television it makes me wanna get up and throw the TV out of the balcony, seriously! Or to quote F.R.I.E.N.D.S., it makes me want to put my fingers through my eyes into my brain and swirl it around! I am talking about this new smash hit by Himesh Reshamiya called Jhalak Dikhla Ja, and featuring Emran Hashmi – the icing on the cake! Himesh Reshamiya and Emran Hashmi certainly look like they were meant to be together, but some place else…ummm, like… the jungles of South Africa… or maybe the Sahara desert… just somewhere away from humankind. Himesh Reshamiya with his nosy voice, unkempt beard and his stupid cap is so damn annoying, plus the snobbish yet attempting to appear down-to-earthish attitude. How could he just become a music director? I don’t even find him fit to be a playback singer. And then there’s mister serial kisser of the Indian film industry – Mr. Emran Hashmi with his bent neck and retarded stare who apparently thinks of himself as a hunk. I really cant even put it into words how… ugh… disgusting I find him. Why does he keep getting roles? Maybe its not just these two people, the complete song is appalling somehow. What furthermore irritates me is that the moronic song is topping charts in countdown shows on so many channels and also is the current rage for dancers everywhere – shaadis, discotheques and even holi functions!!! Kids, college goers – everyone seems to love that song, then why do I hate it that much? I live at a place where there are quite a few marriage halls nearby, and the people in the apartment in front of ours are way too social. The people have a get together every week for no reason at all. Well I wouldn’t have any problem with that had they kept their excitement a bit low and not installed that huge sound and speaker system each time they decide to party, and play that lovely song with drunk and pot bellied grown up men, their wives, the children, the youngsters everyone dancing around and screaming and shouting. I wonder how they get away with it and how come no one complains about the volume. I have to turn the volume of my computer way too high to be able to listen to it after closing the main door of the house, the dining room and then the door to my bedroom. Oh god, now look I have totally drifted from the topic.Bottom-line is I loathe and I abhor the song!!!!! It is so repugnant!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargghhh!!!!!! And I just want all the copies of the cassettes, cds, and whatever devices have that song stored and of course Himesh Reshamiya and Emran Hashmi to be thrown into the grand canyon or maybe the pacific ocean. Can anyone help me?
Regards,
Devil's own

Monday, March 13, 2006

Lip Service

It is so convenient to keep people content and satisfied by being diplomatic. Express agreement on whatever they have to say with or without actual conviction. Really, it doesn’t take much to keep people happy and maintain good relations with them, just in case you might need them later! All it takes is lack of dignity, self respect and a few more similar virtues. Of course, I understand there are sometimes when you just have to be a diplomatist, and there have been times in my life too when I should have and could have just smiled and nodded and excused myself from situations I would rather not have been in. But I guess I am too stubborn to compromise on my self respect. So, I just have to go ahead and say what I actually think and get myself in a mess. But at least I am not ashamed of myself then. I have been true to myself. Hypocrisy prevails. I guess a lot of people would think that why should I make an issue out of that. Everybody keeps everybody happy, and moves on. I really don’t know why, but when someone does that with me it frustrates me. I just cannot play along. I feel like screaming and shaking the person and telling him why can’t you just be yourself? Why do you have to be so fake? Just go ahead and do what you want, say what you want. Disagree with me; tell me you think I am wrong. I am not a 450 pound sumo wrestler, I will not kill you. Maybe we would end up arguing. But would you not feel lighter once you have spoken your mind? Stood up for what you believe in? If you are not answerable to me, it is fine. Tell me you do not feel the need to explain your actions to me. For heaven’s sake don’t try to win everybody’s vote. At least not by being so fake. Get a grip. Accept that there will be people who do not agree with you. Ah, what a perfect world it would have been if everyone thought alike, and everyone agreed with each other on everything. But that is not the reality. People have different point of views. Be strong enough to face conflicts, difference of opinions, disagreement and contradictions. It is okay if everyone who knows you does not praise you. You’ll be respected for standing up for your beliefs. People will not tell you they respect you. But be true to yourself, they will; even if they dislike you. And may be there are people who do not even respect you, but wouldn’t you be able to respect yourself? Why the hell is the need to go out of your way to make people think you are something that you are not? God! I don’t know what all I am blabbering. I probably have been repeating the same thing in the whole post.

I do not think you need to tell everyone exactly what is going on in your mind. But how can you not be true to yourself, leave alone other people? I for one will actually end up in a serious identity crisis if I try maintaining different identities when with different people. It is okay with me if there are people who dislike me, and contradict me. At least the people who do like me, like me for who I really am. I do not have to put up masks. If people dislike me, they dislike my actual self, and if they like me, they like the real me. This has always been an issue with me. For me to like anyone, the person should not be fake. Be what you want to be. Scream, shout, cry, dance around, be foolish, be egoistic, dance around, laugh out loud, succeed, fail whatever. Just be who you are, and I will respect you. Don’t try to be someone you are not, don’t try to imitate anyone. Everyone is special in their own way.

Be subtle in your ways. Don’t be too harsh on anyone, don’t be too rude, and don’t hurt anyone. If there are times you have to, you cannot help it – go ahead. You are not expected to be a saint. But stand up for what you believe in. have faith in yourself. If you can do something, you can. You do not have to prove yourself for every other person. When you have to, you know you just have to.


People I am not trying to preach. Forgive me if I sound that way. I have used ‘you’ everywhere, but I am kind of thinking out loud here. I can never have a career in politics! :)

Regards,

Devil's own


The monk who had nothing better to do

I read Ernest Hemingway’s Old man and the sea. Nice book, I mean not bad. It is just a 100 page book, but still is a bit slow. The moral of the story is pretty good too. How difficult a problem is depends upon how you see it. But I failed to understand why the author was honored with a Nobel Prize for literature for this book. Perhaps, he was given the Nobel Prize for his entire works. If that is so, then I cannot comment, as this is the only work of his that I have read. Actually, come to think of it, most award winning novels are not very impressive. I mean impressive to me. I begin thinking what exactly are their criteria for a book qualifying for a booker or a Nobel or something? Who in the world judges these books?

The most talked about books generally turn out to be disasters.
I had wanted to read The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma for so long. I picked up the book yesterday and it was a big disappointment. According to the back cover of the book, the author is one of North America’s most electrifying speakers… well, I was electrified alright!! I didn’t even have the patience to just browse through the whole book. It was way too boring. The author being an Indian had just tried to sell India in the book, and has topped it with enormous helpings of things like spirituality and the like. It is a mystic land, sages and the blah. I cannot say about the whole book, because I couldn’t survive even a quarter of it. But at least in the initial chapters it has just glorified India. I wouldn’t have had any problem with that had the story been even a little more interesting. I thought it wouldn’t be just another self help book. Every third person I met had loved the book. But I really don’t understand why. This hot shot lawyer is obsessed with his work, running after glory and pride, disastrous personal life, divorced blah blah. Gets a heart attack in the middle of a trial, decides to abandon everything and try to get in touch with nature, decides to go to India, finds mysterious sages and starts living with them. He is the first to be able to find those sages in ages, as if he is the one they were waiting for to pass on their wisdom. The sages give him seven tips/advices/pointers/whatever to Get a Life (!), he promises to return to his world and spread the wisdom. Comes back a better person – lost all extra pounds, glow on his face, cheerful, no stress and stuff, and begins to pass on the wisdom to his colleague and that is where I lost patience and stopped reading it. What crap!

Regards,

Devil's own