Monday, January 20, 2014

IN PREPARATION

So far so good, the first nineteen days of 2014 kept me hooked at the pace of a Sidney Sheldon novel. When the heart felt a bit burdened, I flipped through some works of Jeffrey Archer, Haruki Murakami, Salman Rushdie and Jhumpa Lahiri. My thoughts were also interrupted by Amitav Kumar, Vikram Chandra and Shashi Tharoor. Sometimes social and sometimes detached, I chose to continue in preparation of making 2014; my mentor, my guide, my knowledge partner, my fellow traveler, my colleague and my confidant.

First thing first, I am presently staring at my passport. The undisturbed pages of my freshly issued passport seem to be bouncing some questions at me. I am unsure if I am in a position to reply them all. The freshly purchased sky bags, suitcases, backpacks and hand bags seem to be eager to know about my plans of packing or dumping something deep into them. The bookmarked travel sites, the liked pages on social media of exotic destinations around the globe, the referred articles in popular news dailies, old & new copies of Lonely Planet, unsubscribed editions of Outlook Traveler, a bit of National Geographic and a forgotten link on StumbleUpon; still many questions answered for me, being in preparation.

Some read books and most of them unread, a few highlighted paragraphs in them, bracketed sentences, comparisons and references; all for the sake of gathering inspiration and words. I wonder if at all the books start taking human forms and start questioning me over the insane motives I associate with my habit of reading. Will I be able to explain to them that I am busy being in preparation to make a dream come true! Or will I choose to ignore that moment by terming it as a fake fantasy, born in an insane mind.

As I continue being in preparation, I think I am happy to meet some people who understand their jobs pretty well. They aren’t arrogant of the knowledge they possess and neither did they make me feel alienated. Some are helpful in nature, courteous in their demeanor and foresighted in their mission. In the company of such people, I too am somewhere enjoying the opportunity of discovering myself.

Discovery of ideas, discovery of imaginations, discovery of incredibility and a less travelled road; yet no clear signs of a beginning. Therefore the need of carrying out a research, by wanting to be in a particular state of mind. This research might take me back to those first years of being a confused wanderer.  Or it might pin me to the confines of my home. When in preparation, researches seem to possess a never discovered secret, which might help us in imagining new roads, imagining new journeys and taking up new projects.

There is restlessness and hope, while being in preparation of a pleasant tomorrow. There is thirst and hunger, while being in preparation of fame. There are approvals and disapprovals, while being in preparation of a new morning. Little did I realize that being in preparation is all about being in competition with me and also about creating a new identity in the next 345 days!


-vociferous

Thursday, January 09, 2014

357 DAYS MORE TO DO A LOT MORE

Some days ago while writing about the first five days of 2014, I decided to turn this into a habit. The habit that helps me to remain indulged with my everyday life. Thus arrived next three days of 2014; as expected they were unpredictable. From meeting new people to new conversations and from imagining a deal to be finalized to seeing it go bust. Everything within a span of three days (72 hours). But the grit to do a lot more doesn’t cease. My body language says that I am restless. That is for the world to make an opinion about. I believe I am just a curious seeker of creative solace. Even though I laugh about the many oddities of what half of the uncreative populous talk about, I am not authorized to insult or criticize them. They have done their bit of climbing ladders; honestly or dishonestly.

All these three days have been very important with context to the yarn of personal growth. The mind that was held captive by cobwebs of unfair thinking, finds itself a bit enlightened now. The excess baggage of not wanting to go against heart seems to have lightened a bit. All that remains with me are conversations. These conversations comprised words like – Tell me something about yourself, how good are you at doing xyz, what is your opinion about its future, would you like to know anything more about us, we will keep in touch, there is lots happening around us and we might have skipped that. It was left to my imagination to either believe or disbelieve them. On most occasions, I disbelieved them but didn’t express what was on my mind.

But such encounters are necessary for the process of life to continue smoothly. Disruptions challenge the way our minds might want to think. Or else our minds tend to grow lazy. Our minds start feeling petrified by the prospect of facing a potential challenge lurking around us. The last three days have been filled with disruptions. These disruptions ranged from an erratic internet connection to an unplanned discussion. From a missed call to attended calls of the unwanted and one such call was from the so called Customer Service Centre of Hypercity.

The female on the other side of the phone opened the conversation with a courteous question – Excuse me sir, I would first like to seek your permission to ask, if this is the right time to talk to you? She added more by extending it with another sentence – Sir, will you be willing to share your marital status and the number of kids you have? I was impressed. She spoke very well. Her voice was controlled. Seemed to be in her early twenties and didn’t come across as a threat to my mind, while being in the middle of heavy duty thinking. After having shared all the details, she asked me as to why I wasn’t shopping too often at Hypercity? She wanted to know if I was unhappy with their services. Did the staff not cooperate with me? Or did I want to see a change that Hypercity could introduce with respect to my feedback? Voila. I was bowled over. I conveyed to her my satisfying replies. Her gratitude seemed like an announcement in an airplane. Thank you so much sir for having spared your precious time to answer our questions. We assure you of better services and a pleasant shopping experience during your next visit to Hypercity.

But such communication is very rare. The executive I spoke to was well trained and respected the significance of time, the communication, the seriousness and possibly the temperament of a rigid customer like me. The next moment was that of shock. I was coordinating with a disorganized courier service agent. For a second, I thought they had misplaced the cheque that I was expecting from someone. As I started tracing the courier and talking to the guys involved, I encountered disruptions and thereby lay the challenge. These disruptions where in the form of humans, with whom I hate to communicate on an everyday basis. But luck was in my favor and the shenanigans ended with the courier company sending across a person to personally deliver my documents aka cheque.

In all these three days, I think somewhere there was less of effort involved and the perception to do more was missing. I sat across a table staring at the calendar and felt there was still an unfinished task to be accomplished. Excusing myself for a half day from the task in hand, I landed up at one of the offices of a Government of India undertaken Insurance Company. Somehow I followed my intuition of they haven’t acknowledged a document, sent across by my mom to adjust a claim. Initially I was shocked by the tactical location of this office. The office was located in a State Transport Bus owned complex. I took an over abused staircase that helped me arrive at the first floor of the office. The walls were plastered with spit (definitely a byproduct of endless gutka gossips). The security guard sitting at the entrance preferred to busy himself with his personal dose of powdered tobacco than wanting to attend my query. I still mustered the courage to be vociferous.

Who will help me solve this problem? Open the door, go straight, turn to your left and he might be of some help to you. Followed by an ignorant round of laughter, I was directed towards the official who held the fate of my mother’s insurance claim. A discussion between him and me, made me realize how easily he had not even bothered to read through the details; we had couriered across centuries ago. It was upsetting to realize that my mother and I had invested a total of Rs.15 in simplifying the task-on-hand of these unkind species. But looking at my outraged form, this gentleman somewhere between his mid 40s sprung into action. Kalji karu naka, hey don mintacha kaam aahey, fukatcha dag dag karoon gheoo naka (No need to worry, this task will take just two minutes to be taken care of and please don’t stress yourself). The result of this proactive action will be released only after ten days. That is when I will come to know if I have fared well in my effort. For no reason, I think that our Government offices are a symbol of colossal chaos. The number of pillars in these offices stands outnumbered. Or else, how will they do justice to the phrase of ‘made to run from pillar to pillar’!

Last but not the least, I wish to speak about a lady who expressed her desire to have a prolonged conversation with me regarding some prospects of future. But the conversation got scattered between her paying more attention to her laptop than me. The conversation got scattered between two gentlemen who were sitting around her paying more attention to her continuous exit and entry into the room than the points, I was stressing upon. To be frank, I don’t care about the outcome of this flawed discussion.

From all the above actions that I spoke about, I think the fault was mine to have limited myself somewhere from not wanting to do more. That means in the last eight days; I haven’t done much to achieve the ‘more’ that I perceive from 2014. But great men said ‘better late than never’ and as agreed, I am looking ahead to the next 357 days of the year. If I am good at calculations that stands for next eleven months of the year and I can’t care a damn less about the prospect of getting to do so much more in these coming days.

No matter where I am. No matter what I might be planning of doing next. The objective is clear – think and write more for 357 more days to do a lot more.

-vociferous 

Monday, January 06, 2014

THE FIRST HIGH FIVE DAYS OF 2014

Writing never ages. Even if it seems to be ageing, it seems to get better like well seasoned wine. The layers of experiences or the series of events, keep adding on to the passion or rather habit of writing. It was with the first fresh sunrise of January 1, 2014 that I decided to start writing for myself. But that should not be confused of being my resolution for the year 2014. As announced publicly, my resolution for 2014 will continue to remain a secret till the time I realize it. Writing pumps undefeatable confidence in my faith in life and dreams. Writing either adds wings to my desires or takes them to an all new high. And thereby began 2014.

On the first day of 2014, I woke up at ease. No matter how hard I had tried to get a new pair of sports shoes to go jogging from the first ever morning of the New Year, my luck had different plans for me.  A brand new pair of sports shoes did catch my attention at a local Bata outlet. The single sexy shade of grey gave out a very silvery feel to my determination to slip my feet into them at the soonest. Belonging to the POWER clan of sports shoes, neither did it cost princely nor did it end up setting my pocket ablaze. Alongside mom, I walked out with a broad smile on my face. The next day was going to be amazing. But before the next day arrived, I had different plans to begin with 2014.

I was lucky to have booked three tickets to Chander Pahar (The Mountain of Moon) in advance. This was also my first visit to yet another mall (Phoenix Market City) in an otherwise not so likable suburb (Kurla). As a first impression, the mall engulfed my mediocre imaginations about it. The opinions I held about it stood banished. My apprehensions vanished. Here we were facing the mall; a monster of a mall. We walked towards the seven screens multiplex. After collecting the tickets we treated ourselves to donuts at M.O.D and then spent a good amount of time at Hamleys. Stepping inside we were on a joyride. Mom pointed towards the section that comprised almost all the toy cars, one can think of. At the same time, Mrs.Right busied herself with a flurry of soft toys. And then arrived the time to set out on a cinematic adventure. Chander Pahar turned out to be a Bengali movie with Hollywood finesse. Combining all the elements of edge-of-the-seat adventure tales, Chander Pahar pulled us in. Reviewing it would seem very average. The greatest of greats in Bengali cinema and the best of all the bests from Indian cinema have lauded the formula defying effort. It was nothing less than a Spielberg experience in Indian context. Two hours thirty minutes seeped away. The first ever African Safari, filmed in Bengali carried us to a tough terrain and then rapidly flung us back to the strange experience of being in the maddening surrounds of Mumbai. The first day of the New Year ended with an applauding round of dinner – home cooked Misal Pav (a Maharashtrian delicacy that is still best-served at Mamledar, Thane).

The alarm went off at sharp 6 am on the second day of 2014. The new pair of sports shoes seemed to be waiting anxiously to meet their first ever owner. Slipping my feet into them, I jogged, I skipped, I jumped and I walked. The overall experience was extremely sporty. It was that lovely feeling of having achieved something. What did I achieve? My sports shoes know it better. Work wise everything remained calm. The stage seemed set to welcome the third day.

We forgot attending a wedding of a family friend. But I remembered to get my android phone back. This was for the longest time that it had rested at the forgettable LG Service Center, located at a disinteresting location in one of the oldest alleys of Dadar. The little amount of charge that was left in the battery made the mobile spring back to life. The engineers had done something amazing to it. My LG P970 Optimus Black was breathing again. The software had been upgraded. The internal circuit went through a revamp. Right now I am celebrating the fact that I didn’t have to spend a bomb on acquiring another smartphone. But thanks to the Micromax phone that kept me connected to the world. Happiness made a comeback.

Then arrived the fourth day of 2014. It was not the day but the evening that made it much more special. I met my best friend Nikhil. The 40 km bike ride made us turn into bachelors again. Nikhil is still a bachelor. The crazy bike ride without helmets protecting our heads ended at a lakeside restaurant in Thane. Nikhil and I realized that this was our 20th year of being friends. To celebrate the moment, we ordered for delicious food. And then began a long round of conversation. From the first day of our college to present day complications and simplicities, we spoke all. And then Nikhil commented – From 1998 I have been waiting for my friend to start writing the book that he had always been talking about. I suggest you start now. Nikhil ignited the long lazy desire to pursue personal writing. He shook the heart that had somewhere mildly stopped responding to the calls of my pen and paper. He made me think again. Before him Mrs.Right has been urging me to make a start. Before her many other friends and well-wishers have been advising me to do so. Maybe the journey of writing has to begin now! But I have been travelling for long. Maybe it is time to stop procrastinating.  

The fifth day being a Sunday could have turned out to be yet another lazy day. But I am still reeling with excitement. I finally succeeded in defying routine. I read, I imagined. I laughed, I smiled. Above all, I opened the long closed gates of my mind to accept and welcome the change that has been trying to keep me inspired and motivated. At the turning point of life, looking ahead to the rest of 360 days of 2014!

-vociferous