M4

That’s the secret- Letting go… More of the small/trivial things you let go and the sooner you do it, more will be the peace you’ll have and you’ll have it sooner too. It is true that these smaller things take up little spells of our time, effort and mind space. Also true is the fact that we usually tangle ourselves in a gazillion of these small things- day in, day out- and they add up. Ask yourself, when was the last time your mind was empty- utterly, totally empty- of all thoughts. Sitting quietly on a park bench, our mind goes for a jog alongside all the people strolling in the park- he’s fat, she looks good in the sun, look at that cute kid, god how I wish that stupid bird would shut up and so on. When you are not too occupied with your head inside your smartphone, that is. And for the hyper-sensitive, attention-deficit youngsters of today (of which I am one myself), it takes very little to push them over the tolerance threshold- dusty roads, vague signboards, faulty g

Says everyone, but I’m sure nobody- not one- means it, ever. No matter what they say about themselves, everyone has a huge bloated ego and when you say something to their face that they is contrary to their beliefs, it is certain that they’ll fight tooth and nail to refute it. Hence the prevalent use of terms like ‘with all due respect’, ‘no offense’, ‘with due consideration’ etc. intended to ameliorate the situation. Ironically though, when people use these terms, they seldom mean it and that leads to hilarious circumstances sometimes- hilarious to the audience, I mean. These situations are far from hilarious to the speaker and to the recipient; the recipient will take offense, without exception and the speaker will have many an indignant person to deal with. So the next time you tell your boss something that starts like this- “with all due respect sir…”- take my seasoned word that it doesn’t matter at all what you say after the phrase. That time you say ‘no offense…” to you

Recently, I’ve moved to a new city. Being just out of college, all friends from before moved to different cities for work. So, I just happened to have moved into a new circle of friends. And things changed. These are loud, totally random and unpredictable, binge eat and drink like a fish; their apartment is a pseudo dump. But over the past few months, I liked hanging out with them- it’s easy, natural and somehow I felt at home there with them. That was totally unexpected for me- I mean, this is not the ‘me’ I knew. So, that got me thinking- have I been keeping bad company before or I didn’t yet know what this new company is doing to me. Here are some things that struck me in retrospect: These guys don’t have facades- no pretences. Doesn’t mean they don’t do stupid stuff or have their privacy. Just that they don’t have anything to hide. We respect one another’s secrets. No patronizing. All of these are elder to me at least by a couple of years. And of course in better job

So, here I come to this famed hub of technology in southern India. The weather couldn't be more different from the original Silicon Valley- the rains longer, the wind stronger and the nights colder out here. What a welcome! A friend had to leave the city almost as soon as I arrive, tossing all our plans out the window. The universe does have a sick sense of humour. The people-oh, the people! There are so many of them that I began replacing "crowds" with "herds" in all my speech. These herds are so much alike- in shape, size, packaging, labelling, tagging and what not. The whole sight and sound of 'em is so alike that not a day goes by without the song "Little boxes" ringing in my ears. And all these people choose the exact same schedule to travel to and from work- the exact same two hours each in the mornings and the evenings. Either they have a masochistic love for spending several hours a day stuck in traffic or they have that l

Always believed books must be free and accessible to all. And been putting together a nice little bookshelf of ebooks- classics, fiction, mysteries, thrillers and many more odds and ends. A collection that has been one of my prized possessions, almost as precious as The Black Pearl to Jack Sparrow. This here is  Mach's bookshelf Feel free to share the fun... And do tell what you liked or any new titles that should be included. **Edit** Some more books added

a. Last day of classes No nostalgia, no senti feelings. Coz I remember the last time I felt bad for end of classes, it didn't turn out so well. Less than a year later, I was back in classrooms. Anyone for whom this was a ‘return’ to college would agree to this being just another phase, just a passing cloud. b. I would not miss my friends I made just a handful of friends here. (plenty of acquaintances, though) And there's no way I’m going to miss them. These people are going to hear from me, soon and often. What good are friends if you stay out of touch long enough to start missing?! c. I’m glad it’s over To me this has been 21 months of rushed up everything. Sitting groggy eyed in the classrooms, some real boring lectures, pretty bad food, and a few crappy people too- it was an effort in itself to keep sane. Given a chance, I’d want to sit through a select few of classes with some very good professors and learn some worthwhile stuff and hang out with some real

“All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts….” -Act II, Scene VII, As You Like It, William Shakespeare, We are defined not as a set of characteristics or traits, not as a sealed package by others. Instead, everyone sees us for the discrete, granular roles that we play in their lives. The ‘package’ that we see in our own heads is our own perspective of all the roles we play in the lives of all the people we know. You may be a caring child, a sincere student, a loyal friend, a passionate lover, a dedicated employee, a pleasant boss, a doting father and a responsible citizen: each of these roles call for a set of characteristics and need you to act in a manner that suits the roles you choose to play. Ain't that why someone we hate from the guts is liked by some others, why some fall in love with people that just don’t care, why some people buy goods t

Having returned recently from an academic Euro trip which was everything but academic (no wonder), I was inclined, almost compelled, to revamp the interiors of my dorm lodgings to suit my refined tastes. (This is what others think. Honestly, I was pretty jobless and the neighbours were quite vocal in what they thought of my guitar strumming.) Either which way, I ended up staring at superhero posters for what I now realise was a little too long. And this is what ensued... Q. What is common between Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Wolverine and Phantom? (Sounds deep, I know!)  A. Among other things, the immaculate guarding of their identity bordering on obsession.   Superheroes, as the comics and movies might suggest, have day jobs that are essentially their defences against the prying eye and the eavesdropping ear. But the explanation that I believe does most justice is from Batman: 'Gotham doesn't need a saviour; It needs a hero.' A close second is from Superman: &#