Really?

We live in an age where technology has not made life simpler; it has complicated and obfuscated the simpler things to such an extent that they don’t even come into our purview of cognition anymore. 

Have you noticed that the frustratingly curious uncles and aunties don’t ask kids “How many friends do you have in school?” these days? There was a time when kids used to innocently count out friends on their finger tips. Now they refer to their FB profile for the updated figure (sometimes even including the pending friend requests). Also, have you noticed how difficult it has become to answer seemingly innocuous questions like “Are you still in touch with him/her?”. That person is on your friend list; comments on ALL your updates (even the Farmville and mafia wars ones); seems to like ALL your pictures (even those crazy drunken party pics); seems to know about all your parties, vacations, relationship status updates and even mood swings; someone who sent you his/her marriage invitation (as an event on FB, of course). But someone whom you’ve not met in half a decade. Are you really in touch with this person?

I assume that blogs were introduced in order to facilitate the process of venting out. It gave a medium of expression to people who had none; a veil which a common man could use to express his views without worrying about any repercussions. There was a time not long ago when blogs were flourishing. Then came twitter.  All of a sudden it became ‘cool’ to express oneself in 140 characters. Laws of grammar and sentence construction be damned. Inanity became the ‘in’ thing. The originality of our thoughts dying out due to the endless onslaught of tweets and re-tweets. A span of attention as long as the next breaking news or gossip.

It would be very myopic of me to squarely blame these so-called social networks, for the doldrums in which our social life lies today. A gun is only as lethal or protective as the hand using it. We have to draw a line between our virtual and real world. There has to be a perceptible difference between the two; always. How unfortunate is the person who has a thousand friends on FB, but not a single shoulder to cry on?

Where's the wonderful world?

I see trees of green, in the pictures of yore;
I imagine the shade, the fruits and so much more.
And I ask to myself, where’s the wonderful world?

The skies used to be so blue and clouds so white
the birds would chirp all day, frogs croaked all night
but now the skies and clouds are in shades of grey
and as my heart yearns for a bright sunny day
I ask to myself, where’s the wonderful world?

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
have faded into the darkness, of the smoke going by
I see people go through life, missing what has been lost;
The beauty they pawned off, but at what cost?

If only I could go back, I’d make everything right;
I’d profess my love to her, under the starry night
The days would brighten up and the rains would fall
And it would wash away, the writing on the wall.

But now I ask to myself, where’s the wonderful world?
Oh! I ask to myself, where’s the wonderful world?

                                                            -Man, February 14, 2051 


Inspired from Louis Armstrong’s “what a wonderful world”

Speaking of thoughts

Thoughts are tricky. They come at the most unexpected of times and in the weirdest of places. Thoughts have a very creepy way of getting into your head. It could be something that you see, something you smell, something that the people around you are talking about, something that you remember from something that happened once, something that you remember from something that you always wanted to happen but never did. You get the picture, right?

But of course, they don’t get into you head as a full-fledged thought!! No!! That would be too easy! They get in as a word, a picture, a blank to be filled, a what-if. Then they start niggling you like that piece of chicken that get stuck in a crevice of your teeth; something that feels HUGE when you touch it with your tongue but is just out of reach when you put your finger in. Slowly these words start getting together. They become sentences. Then these sentences start getting galvanized by feelings. Now, feelings are heavy material! They are probably the most densely packed intangible material known to man! Soon this innocuous looking thought is no longer a chicken stuck between your teeth; it’s a chicken sitting on your head. You have got to get this thought out of your head if you are planning to do anything else for the rest of the day. I also got hit by one such thought-train.

So what are my thoughts about? Hmmm… Well… They are simply thoughts about thoughts. I just came back from lunch and was picking up the strands of work from where I had left it. And… Boom! The rest, as they say, is this blog entry!

Dear 2010,

Thank you for showing me interesting times and for making me learn so many things; some that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life and some that I’d rather not remember for the rest of it. You will always be cherished for the things and people you brought into my life. You will always be loathed for the things and people you took away. I know that none of it was your fault but I need someone to blame it on, so bear with me!

I must admit that there was something quite mystical and prophetic about you. When I was going through some of the darkest alleys of my life, you showed me a sign; not only that, you gave me the gumption to capture the sign in a photograph. It showed me what I have left behind, where I shall stay and what shall be my destination. I will always remember you for this.

I don’t think you’d know 2011 but, from what I've heard so far, he seems to be a good chap. In case, you bump into him on your way out, share some of your experiences with him.Put in a good word about me as well, if possible.

Here is wishing you a happy journey to wherever it is that you go now. If you ever look back, remember me as friend.

Cheers!

Krishnamurthi

Plug and Play

This was the year that launched a thousand leaks

Oil pipes creaked & diplomacy leaked, weeks after weeks

But there were some leaks in 2010 that went unobserved

The taps that leaked a million gallons and drained reservoirs unperturbed

This was the year that launched a thousand scams

Politics played games and games played for clams

But there were some scams in 2010 that went unnoticed

November rains, December hails; snow replacing the mist

In 2011, let us resolve to “plug and play”

Let’s plug all leaks, play by the book and usher in a brand new day!