Oblivion

Week four of lockdown is about to end and I have spent an extremely lazy Saturday. I am leaving for Ambala tomorrow for an indefinite amount of time or as the kid who brings chaos would say, it's only till June 17th. We're sitting here, a little high, listening to songs from all eras, and then a friend plays a song that reminds me of Bangalore, a place I have spent a lot of time trying to forget.  The exact scene I have in mind is the road in front of the Forum Mall staring down the road to my first flat. And it's late at night, so it's mostly deserted and it is kinda dark. This is it. That is the picture in my head now.  Forum Mall was this mall in front of our office and we spent a lot of time there. I had watched countless movies there with my then-work wife. Every time a new movie came, we were there, almost the first in line. It didn't matter how bad the movie was or how late we'd worked in the office. We watched every movie. A trend we continued in Gur...

We have been rushing and running, all our lives, in a literal and a metaphorical sense. We are running every day to finish our daily activities on time literally and running to achieve our goals metaphorically. From getting up in the morning to work to the gym (where you are actually involved in the act of running) and back home for some other hobby or activity you have planned to achieve some bigger goals in life. We have always been running. That is how we have known life to be. But about 5 weeks ago for me here in India and at varying degrees for the rest of the world, everything came to a stop. No more running. You couldn't even if you wanted to. We are plagued by the deadly coronavirus which started in China because someone ate a bat. I mean c'mon China, you're so good at oppressing women, should've tried the same with the Virus! And with globalisation and the likes of Trumps in power, we looked the other way when we should've been taking precautionary measu...

We got bored of psych and houseparty is dead Our morale is down and We're hanging by a thread All the shows I have seen Every book I have read will you please go away if we collectively pled? I am bored and tired of laying in my bed where is the door to Narnia? It's about time I fled! Or would Hogwarts be better With George and Fred lmma find platform 3/4 After all, I am a Potterhead I showed this to Shanky he pointed out a mistake I had med how could I forget that even George Weasley is dead! I am bored with cooking can't even look at bread Maggi is the best with or without the led I am not going to work leaving my mails at unread This ain't ending soon guys we were misled We got bored of psych and houseparty is dead Our morals are down and We're hanging by a thread

Endless video calls and psych Is how I spend my day And here’s to hoping that This doesn’t go beyond may This quarantine is annoying There has to be another way When is this going to end when can I go out and play? Virtual assistants have become friends Siri is the only one saying hey I ask her for the corona update Beyond which we have nothing to say You've done enough damage Corona can you please go away? And here’s to hoping that This doesn’t go beyond may I will never cancel plans even to a classical ballet I have learned my lesson Corona can you please go away?

We could be sitting at John's right now with our whiskeys just right, and some cabo on the way, cheese garlic naan on the table and the chinese bhel right there. It wouldn't be the best goan weather, but we're by the sea, and that makes everything better. You can taste the salt in the air and its home. John would come and greet us because even though we graduated some four years ago, we still come back, we always come back. How can we not? I mean isn't Johns the place where we had our first birthday treats, consequent breakup parties where someone gets really drunk, that spur of the moment date where we had to hitch a ride back with strangers, the lunch that turned into dinner when your favourite senior was leaving campus, the place where the entire batch would get drunk come graduation night and the first place we all felt like family? We could be laughing about my idiosyncrasies, listening to the same old songs on karaoke, sitting on that porch, making up the dr...

Men need to understand that women aren't theirs to be ordered around or have them even define the rules of their existence. Wait, let me rephrase that, every individual needs to understand that they have no right whatsoever over any human being. If you are a part of someone's life either by legal bounds, for the lack of a better word, or even by their own choice, it is their choice. You could be a father, a husband, a son, a boyfriend, or even a friend, and pardon me for pointing out the males here but I am just in that state of mind, it is there, and I cannot stress this enough, their choice. They let you be a part of their life, they are doing you a favor.  You simply cannot think you have any stake, much less claim over any individual. All you can do is offer suggestions and helpful tips. You under no circumstances can dictate the boundaries of their life, I don't care how you are related to them.  And to be honest, I am tired of having to explain to men that when...

I left Bangalore abruptly about 18 months ago, and since then have never thought about going back, maybe just once, and that too just to face my fear of the city. Since I moved, the sheer name of Bangalore was enough to get me anxious. But recently, I had to go to the traffic city for a short two-day trip due to some office work. Unavoidable. On one hand, I was sort of happy that I would get to face my fear of the city but on the other, my insides were tumbling around. I clearly remember sitting at the airport waiting for my flight and trying very hard to remain calm. I landed late at night. I exit the airport and the classic Bangalore air, enough to make anyone fall in love with the city, hit me. And for a second I did. Moving on, I was trying to recognize the airport, trying to find memories hidden behind pillars and outside coffee shops, but none came to me. It felt very unfamiliar. Also, the entire layout of the airport has changed. I mean I leave a city for some 18 odd months, ...

Assertiveness has become a survival skill. If you aren’t assertive, you are not going anywhere. More than your skills and capabilities what matters in the world is how well you portray what little capability you possess. You might be the genius who came up with the concept of the hype cycle (#gartner), but if you can’t market yourself, it is no use. In a world where everyone is trying to make an impact and make themselves more memorable, the ones who speak constantly are bound to be remembered. This is the era of the extroverts. The ones who can speak their way through life. People who surf the world on confidence and aggression. In today’s world, “ Jo dikhta hai, wo bikta hai ” and this system has an innate bias towards the outspoken, no matter how daft. Okay, that is a little extreme, but if you are not completely dumb and chatty and can speak your way through a bunch of conference rooms, congratulations, you are it! If you are humble, people are going to walk all over you. N...

I have been working in the technology space for over a year now. And it has significantly shaped my thought process and decision-making. I find myself seeking logic in every aspect of my life, to the point that I have started annoying people around me! One fine day when I was driving back home, it hit me. Trust is the foundation of how we operate. Certain people are closer to us than others because we trust them more. We believe in them. This trust is an underlying component of every friendship and relationship. Actually, let me rephrase that, it is a quintessential ingredient, without which your recipe is going to be incomplete and your friendship bland.  We all have our network of trusted friends, the individuals closest to us in this world. We would want these relationships to continue for as long as possible, and if something happens to even one of them it would be devastating. So there I am in my car, listening to Coldplay, pondering if there was a foolproof way to optimize t...

It is 6:19 PM on a somewhat warm day which is about to turn into a windy and cold night and I sit here randomly scrolling through my twitter trying to while away time. I decided to indulge in the year-end tradition of reflecting on the past year. So this time, I will actually be amongst the first people in the world to welcome the new year. When the clock strikes 12, I will be standing in an extremely overcrowded park, looking at the sky, which will be lit up with fireworks over the Sydney harbour bridge. Sounds exciting? Nah it's just okay. In fact, I am not even sure we will get space to stand and look at the fireworks, but nonetheless, let's try. But this year has been about reading a lot of books, tackling new situations, pushing my boundaries, getting out of my comfort zone, learning to be better at being an adult and being proud of who I am. Here is a list of a few things I have been proud of myself for doing this year I started working out and for the first t...